Chapter 204 - Buying Time

"You see, at the end of the day, it didn't matter if the chosen target was Marvin or you. All I cared about was the result and you both would have delivered it beautifully." 

"..." 

Hecathe didn't know if he wanted to applaud the girl for her intelligence or mock her for wasting her time in such a conversation.  'Cause, the reason why he patiently listened till now was not because he was interested in her words, rather, it was because he was buying time and it seemed as if the girl had not noticed this. 

"So stop getting in the way of what you have created," Lara sharply spoke, "Everything is going according to the plan and by the end of this, if you're still alive, you'll be the only prominent ruler left. Only a fool would refuse such an offer and I believe that you are not such a fool." 

Hecathe scoffed as he heard this, "This might be disappointing to hear but I really am a fool." 

Hecathe raised his sword and it seemed as if he was challenging the girl as he spoke, "The plan went according to your wish but the ending would be according to mine." 

Alphius had brought Hecathe to this world for a favor but since he had never told the man what the favor was, Hecathe blindly struggled to find the goal that he was supposed to accomplish. 

However, after hearing Lara's words, Hecathe couldn't help but once again guess what the favor was supposed to be.

Marvin's father was the reason why the great Edler died and there was no way Alphius was unaware of this. If that were to be the case, then Alphius should have hated both father and son, however, it was clear that Alphius had never hated Marvin. 

If Alphius was not a boy who was aiming for revenge on his father's death then how could he be a person who would want revenge for his own death when it was Marvin who had killed him? 

There was no doubt about it. Although Marvin had killed Alphius, the young boy had already stupidly forgiven his friend for it so the favor had nothing to do with revenge nor did it have anything to do with Alphius and his reputation. 

Alphius was a selfless idiot who didn't ask a favor for himself. He asked a favor for his friend who had killed him. 

If Hecathe was guessing right then Alphius had probably already realized everything from the start to the end and hence, he was concerned about Marvin who was going to fall victim to Lara's schemes. 

Hecathe laughed as he shook his head. 

If Alphius were to be alive today, Hecathe would certainly want to meet him and he'd happily want to punch the boy as well for dragging Hecathe into this mess. 

"I'm glad," Hecathe commented and Lara frowned as she felt a little confused. 

"I'm glad it was me who feel for the trap," Hecathe sighed out as he continued, "If it had been that fool then this would have ended very differently." 

Hecathe raised his sword and got ready to attack, but was stopped by Lara's threatening words. 

"Are you sure you can beat me?" 

Hecathe chuckled softly as he heard this but didn't give a response. 

"If you don't manage to kill me, I'll kill you instead." 

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Hecathe clicked his tongue. 

He had already died once so how could death scare him again? 

"On the contrary, even if you do manage to kill me, with all the three willows of spring dead, do you think you'll emerge as the glorious hero or the cursed dictator?" 

"So you're telling me I'm doomed in both the cases?" Hecathe smirked as he questioned and Lara only smiled thinly. 

If it had been somebody else, they would have at least hesitated to attack the girl, but since it was Hecathe, the man acted like a maniac and swung the sword forward without any thoughts.

Lara sighed as she felt a little disappointed and before the sword could even lay a scratch on her, it disappeared into thin air and Hecathe was left clutching a small napkin instead. 

"LeiLei, kill him." 

Lara turned around and got ready to walk away but her footsteps came to a stop as she sensed that something was wrong. 

Her muscles tensed up and her ears perked up as she tried to listen in to something, but the atmosphere was completely silent. 

Hecathe gritted his teeth as he glared at LeiLei, "So you're going to be the one to kill me?" 

LeiLei didn't say anything as she raised her hand and held up a small pebble. 

Hecathe knew exactly what she was going to do and he also knew that there was no way this girl could ignore Lara's orders. 

He was also well aware of the fact that with LeiLei here, there was no way he was going to survive so he simply smiled as he pointed at the diary that Lara held and spoke, "Then do me a favor before you kill me."

This time, although LeiLei didn't give a verbal response, her movements still paused as she waited to hear the rest. 

LeiLei was created based on Lara and perhaps that was the reason why it was the easiest for Lara to control her. However, at the same time, Lara did not have complete control over her and LeiLei was also a person of her own. 

"That diary... Please give it to Marvin along with my ring. Exchange the diary for his saber and the ring for the one that he is always wearing," Hecathe mouthed out clearly without letting Lara hear it.

There was something that Hecathe had always wondered. 

Out of everyone in the world, why had Alphius specifically chosen him? 

Was it really just a random pick or was it because of a reason that Hecathe was yet to understand? 

However, the more he thought about finding the answer, the more lost he felt. 

There was simply no reason why it had to be him.

He was a man who knew nothing about this world so how was he supposed to come here and fix things? 

It was a piece of the puzzle that simply did not fit even when the rest of the puzzle was solved. 

But now that he could see the end, the realization suddenly hit him. He was never meant to be the hero of this story. From the starting itself, he was meant to be the villain. 

The hero of the story only emerges when the villain is killed.

This world did not need a villain to correct it, it needed a hero to save it. 

And that hero was not Hecathe... 

"Alright," LeiLei nodded her head in understanding and Hecathe smiled as he closed his eyes. 

Since this was really the end, Hecathe couldn't help but wonder if he was going to hell or heaven after this. If not both then was he going to be dragged into another world and made to live another misfortunate villain's life...? 

"Goodbye... Hecathe," LeiLei muttered softly as she used her ability and switched out Hecathe's heart for the small pebble that was in her hands. 

Hecathe's body immediately fell down lifeless and the pebble in LeiLei's hand was replaced by a heart that only had a few beats left before it completely stopped.

LeiLei looked at the heart emotionlessly before glancing down at Hecathe's dead body. 

"That bastard!" Lara suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs as she finally found out what was wrong, "LeiLei, let's go!" 

LeiLei placed the heart down near Hecathe's body and nodded her head as she raised her hand and once again used her ability to carry out Hecathe's request. 

She immediately switched out the diary with the saber and also sent over the ring to Marvin. 

Lara was shocked as she held onto the sword that had suddenly appeared in her hands. 

"LeiLei, what the hell are you doing?" Lara gritted out in confusion but LeiLei said nothing. 

Lara turned around and raised the double-bladed saber to point at LeiLei's throat, "Just who in the world do you think is your master...?!"

LeiLei was not threatened by the sword and she remained standing on her spot without even flinching. 

"I only fulfilled a dying friend's request." 

Lara gritted her teeth and looked to have been even more angered as she heard this. She swung the saber and tried to cut off LeiLei's head but was suddenly interrupted by someone else who came to the rescue.

"What the-" 

Marvin grabbed Lara's hand and his eyes trailed down to look at Alphius' lifeless corpse. 

"Did you kill him?" Marvin questioned as he glared at Lara. 

Lara gulped as she heard this and shook her head, "Don't be ridiculous. How can I kill him?" 

"But he's dead, isn't he?" Marvin gritted his teeth and tightened his hold around her wrist. 

"You dare go against me like this...?!" Lara angrily snapped as she tried to free herself but surprisingly enough, Marvin was quite strong. 

Lara tried to control the boy but unfortunately, it seemed that there was a wall protecting his mind from her influence.

"It's no use," Marvin clicked his tongue as he guessed what the girl was trying to do.