Rise Of The Villain : In a World Ruled By Anomalies
Chapter 181 - 180 : Crows and Crystals
Edgar listened to the list of absurd demands in silence.
With every word that left Melina’s and Riley’s mouths, his blood boiled hotter.
His aura exploded.
Invisible pressure washed over the hall like a crashing wave, making the chandeliers tremble and the servants at the edge of the room stagger back in fear.
"So that’s how it is," Edgar said, his voice low and dangerous. "Looks like you people really want war after all."
Melina’s lips curled.
"My, my," she said lightly. "You really do love fighting, don’t you, Duke Edgar?"
Riley smiled as well, though his eyes remained cold.
Edgar wanted to fight right then.
He wanted to shatter the obsidian floor beneath his feet and use the shards as weapons, to tear through this hall and remind them why the Valmont name was feared on battlefields.
But he knew better.
The situation was not in his favor.
The King of Velmora had already left this matter in Edgar’s hands—it was his children who had caused the incident, and rival houses within Velmora were just waiting for him to make a mistake, eager to diminish his influence even slightly.
The contested mines that the Ashford Empire and the Velmora Kingdom were fighting over lay within Valmont territory. The Valmont family had been on the front lines, bleeding men and resources to secure them.
Now the Imperius family wanted to claim the prize for themselves.
The demands were unreasonable.
Everyone knew it.
But no one could say it out loud.
Eliana broke the silence.
"Will Arthur be pardoned if I agree to the demands?" Eliana asked.
Sylvia’s red eyes shifted toward her.
Behind her, Melina and Riley watched closely.
"That matter is out of our hands," Sylvia said calmly. "He cannot be forgiven."
Melina and Riley smiled faintly, satisfied by her answer.
Eliana’s gaze turned cold.
"Is that so?" she said. "Looks like you’ve already made up your mind."
Sylvia didn’t reply.
But there was something strange in her eyes—a tightness, a flicker of tension—that Eliana did not miss.
Eliana’s instincts prickled.
She looked around the hall, suddenly aware of what was missing.
"Where is Lord Adrian?" Eliana asked.
Her voice cut through the air like a blade.
"I came here expecting him to be the one presenting these demands. It’s odd. He hasn’t made any public appearances for quite some time."
Her eyes narrowed.
"And if I’m correct, that absence started right around the time Arthur rescued Yuna. Right?"
Sylvia’s gaze sharpened.
So did Melina’s and Riley’s.
But their expressions didn’t change.
"Adrian has more pressing matters to deal with inside the Null Realm," Sylvia said smoothly. "He will not be returning for a while."
Eliana held her stare a moment longer.
She wanted to push further, to pry the truth out of her, but she knew this was their internal matter. Pressing without proof would only make things worse.
She let it go—for now.
Ravina stepped forward suddenly, her voice tight and desperate.
"I accept all of your demands," Ravina said. "Just release my daughter. Your conditions will be met."
Her hands were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Eliana closed her eyes briefly.
’I have no choice but to give in...’ she thought. ’Nothing is in our favor.’
She opened them again and looked at Edgar.
He was grinding his teeth, his jaw tight and his fists clenched at his sides. Their eyes met.
A silent understanding passed between them.
They were cornered.
For the sake of their children, they would have to bend—for now.
The elders smiled, sensing victory.
Eliana stepped forward.
"I accept—"
The doors to the hall burst open.
Everyone turned.
A guard stumbled inside, his helmet slightly askew, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.
"I-It’s an emergency!" the guard shouted. "An emergency!"
Melina’s gaze turned icy.
"It had better be important," she said. "Or your head won’t stay attached to your shoulders."
The guard swallowed hard.
"Black-feathered crows," he said, forcing the words out. "They’re all over the city, flying above and dropping these crystals!"
He opened his hand.
In his palm lay a blue crystal, roughly the size of a walnut, faceted and faintly glowing.
Eliana, Sylvia, Ravina, and the elders all recognized it at once.
"Memory crystals," Sylvia said, her eyes narrowing. "Very rare. Very expensive. They’re almost never seen on this continent."
Eliana stepped closer and took the crystal from the guard’s hand, turning it between her fingers.
"You’re saying crows are dropping these from the sky?" she asked.
The guard nodded frantically.
"Not just that," he said. "These crystals contain recorded memories."
A bad premonition stabbed through Sylvia’s mind.
Melina and Riley stiffened as well.
Eliana channeled a small amount of mana into the crystal.
Light flickered inside it.
A holographic image burst out of the gem, expanding above the center of the hall like a translucent screen.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward it.
───────────────
The first scene that appeared was not flattering for the Imperius family.
Adrian stood there, his aura oppressive, facing a bloodied black-haired boy.
Arthur.
Yuna lay in the background, half-buried beneath broken earth, her body mangled and bleeding, barely clinging to life.
Adrian’s voice echoed throughout the hall.
He was threatening Arthur—using Yuna’s life as leverage. If Arthur didn’t bend to his will, Yuna would die.
Eliana’s jaw tightened.
Ravina’s hands trembled.
The recording continued.
Arthur’s expression turned cold and empty as he realized he had no choice. To protect Yuna, he did exactly what Adrian forced him to do—kidnapping Arina and dragging her into the conflict as a hostage because it was the only card he had left to play.
Scene after scene unfolded.
Arthur appeared on the battlefield where Yuna lay half-dead, her arm missing and her body barely recognizable beneath her wounds. He stood between her and the Imperius forces, power flaring despite his injuries.
Then came his fight with Lucas.
The assembled nobles and elders watched as Lucas, the golden heir, was beaten down, his domain devoured and his body broken beneath Arthur’s fists. They watched Arthur beat him into a pulp.
Gasps and low murmurs rippled through the hall.
The next memory was even worse for the Imperius family.
They watched Arthur kidnap Adrian Evan Imperius himself—using a ring to trap the patriarch, turning him into motes of light and imprisoning him within a containment artifact. They watched Arthur tear open space and escape with Yuna and Elizabeth while the Imperius warships and soldiers stood helpless.
The recording shifted one final time.
Now, a black-haired boy with red eyes faced the projection directly.
Arthur.
He tapped the crystal once, as if testing whether the link was active.
"Hello, one, two, three. Mic testing," Arthur said.
Sylvia’s fingers dug into her sleeve.
Arthur’s gaze hardened.
"Sylvia Evan Imperius, I know you’re watching," Arthur said. "Tell that bastard father-in-law of yours to release Julia, Aaron, Evangeline, Aiden, and Isabella by the end of the day."
He lifted his hand.
A ring gleamed on his finger—the same ring they had seen in the earlier memory.
The air in the hall grew colder.
"If you don’t," Arthur continued, his eyes turning icy, "it won’t take me long to destroy this ring. And the bastard inside will be trapped forever in another dimension with no possibility of escape."
He smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in it.
"He’ll die a miserable death," Arthur said.
Silence gripped the hall.
"So heed my warning," Arthur continued. "Remove the bounty on my head. Cancel the decision to banish me from the Vespara Continent."
His voice lost its playful edge.
"After everything that’s happened," Arthur said, "here’s my offer. I’m making a deal. Take it or leave it. I’ll contact you again after you release my friends."
He leaned closer to the imaginary audience.
"Goodbye."
The image flickered as if the memory was about to end.
Then Arthur seemed to remember something.
"Oh, one more thing," he said. "If you’re watching this... Aunt Ravina, Eliana."
Both women tensed.
"I’m very sorry for putting all your children through this," Arthur said quietly. "Just take it as payback for helping those idiots in the past."
He scratched his cheek, looking genuinely awkward.
"Tell them I’m sorry for everything they had to go through because of me," he added.
Eliana’s mouth twitched.
Ravina’s eyes filled with tears she refused to let fall.
Before the image could fade completely, something green fluttered into view.
Luna.
The fairy plopped down on top of Arthur’s head, crossing her arms.
"You idiot, finish it already," Luna complained. "It takes too much out of Erica to transfer and store so many memories in all these crystals. Just because she’s not saying anything doesn’t mean you can take advantage of her."
Arthur’s mouth twitched.
"You’re forgetting that because of me, you mosquito, she’s recognized as a member of the royal family now," Arthur said.
"So what?" Luna shot back immediately.
A silver-haired elf appeared, stepping into view.
"That’s enough," Erica said firmly. "I’m stopping the transfer."
"Wait, wait—" Arthur started.
The recording cut off right there.
The image shattered into motes of light that drifted back into the crystal and faded.
───────────────
The hall fell silent.
Eliana slowly closed her hand around the crystal.
Ravina looked down, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Edgar’s aura simmered just beneath the surface, his eyes blazing with barely controlled fury—not at Arthur, but at the people who had forced all of this to happen.
Sylvia’s face had gone pale.
Melina and Riley exchanged a look, the confidence they had worn earlier beginning to crack around the edges.
The narrative the Imperius family had carefully crafted for the Council—and for the world—had just been torn apart and dropped onto their heads by a flock of black-feathered crows.
In a game they had been certain they would win.