Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 313: I Rejected A Demon And Now He’s Angry?!

To say I was taken aback or at a loss for words would not only sound clichè but also be the biggest understatement of my life.

Don’t get me wrong.

I, indeed, had no idea how to respond to a proposal like that.

It’s not every day that a being of inconceivable power, a master of knowledge so ancient that it dates back to the creation of gods, asks you to be his vessel!

What could I have even said to that?!

Surely not, ’No thanks.

It’s not you, it’s me.

I hope you find your perfect vessel, but I think we’re better off as friends.

’I stared up at him in silence, my mind running through exactly zero useful responses.

No, because really!

What was the correct etiquette here?

Was there some ancient protocol for declining possession by a Demon Prince?

A polite bow with a formal apology?

Or should I prepare a fruit basket for him?

Sadly, neither my past life nor this one had prepared me for that social scenario.

Vaeghar watched me closely, clearly expecting something.

His presence pressed down on me a little harder, as if my hesitation itself had offended him.

"...

Well?

" he prompted, amusement clear in his voice.

"Has your tongue been stolen, child?

Or are you simply weighing the honor I bestow?

" Ah.

So silence was not an acceptable answer.

Got it.

I brought a hand up to rub my temple and sighed.

"Okay.

First of all, respectfully— no.

" That single word echoed strangely in the caldera, and Vaeghar blinked like he didn’t understand.

"...

No?

" He repeated softly.

"Yeah.

No," I confirmed with a nod.

"You see, Lord Vaeghar, I deeply love my life.

If I become your vessel, I’d be unable to control your power and you’ll overtake my body.

I don’t want that.

I’m good.

Thank you for the offer, though.

I’m flattered.

" For a long moment, absolutely nothing happened.

I was not immediately turned into a smear of dust.

The caldera did not explode.

The sky did not tear open...

well, more than it already had long ago.

Vaeghar simply stared at me.

Then, he started laughing.

And I don’t mean the cruel cackle of a mad demon either.

No, he started laughing like he was genuinely amused.

...

But we were not amused.

We were the opposite of amused.

We were anxious, mere moments away from breaking into a panicked frenzy.

Thankfully, before any of us lost our nerves, Vaeghar extended a hand and pointed a finger downward.

I frowned, but decided to follow what he was pointing at.

Down.

Right at my feet.

More specifically, toward my reflection in the lilac water.

Or should I say...

the lack of it.

My heart froze.

I wish I was being metaphoric.

But no, my heart genuinely stuttered in my chest for half a beat as my eyes darted across the shallow pond.

There was Juliana’s reflection, sharp and clear beside me.

Alexia’s too, slightly blurred, but unmistakably there.

Michael.

Ray.

Vince.

Lily.

Kang.

Even Kevin, puffed up and ugly as ever.

Everyone else could be seen in the water.

And then there was me.

Or rather, there wasn’t.

My breathing hardened the moment I recalled this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

While travelling here, on the day we encountered Michael’s clone, we stumbled across a river of lilac water that reflected everyone’s face except mine.

Lilac water...

the same as this.

I whipped my head around until something caught my eye.

In the distance, there was a small crack in the slope of the basin, slowly draining the lilac pond into what must’ve made a narrow river streaming down the outside of this caldera wall.

I didn’t know how it reached the upper tiers of the jungle if it originated from here, but I had no doubt — that river and this pond had the same water.

For reasons beyond my own understanding, that realization settled into my bones like a creeping chill.

Vaeghar’s nose quivered as if he could smell my apprehension.

His smile then widened as he gestured around at the blooming purple flowers.

"All the heather you see here has bloomed from my spilled blood.

They create a mist that, when condensed, creates this beautiful lilac water.

But it’s not an ordinary liquid.

It is a mirror of destiny itself.

A byproduct of my blood, steeped in causality, soaked through with the Loom of Fate.

" My throat went dry.

"When a soul gazes upon it," he continued, "the water reflects not the flesh, but the thread of their fate.

So long as that thread yet stretches forward, so long as life has distance still to travel, the reflection remains.

But when the Loom begins to fray, when the end of a life draws close enough to be inevitable rather than merely possible...

the reflection fades.

" Silence swallowed the caldera.

I didn’t need him to say it.

I already understood what he wanted to imply.

But he said it anyway.

"And when the Loom has nothing left to give, when a fate has reached its terminus, when there is no ordained future left to reflect...

there is nothing for this water to show.

In simple words, child, your death is near.

You are fated to die before ever stepping out of this jungle.

" Which, in turn, meant that I still hadn’t escaped my destined end.

Well, fuck.

Around me, I could feel the others stiffen.

Juliana was the first to look down.

Then Alexia.

Then Michael.

One by one, their gazes dropped to the water...

and then snapped back to me.

But I wasn’t as worried as someone prophesied to die should be.

Because there was something else on my mind.

"Why do you want me as your vessel then?

" I asked before pointing to Michael.

"Why not, say, him?

His reflection is still there.

So he still has a lot of life to live.

" Michael gave me a startled look that said, ’Dude!

Really?!

’Vaeghar shook his head.

"When you inherit a vessel like that, you also inherit its fate.

If there is a choice, then it’s better to claim one whose thread is about to be severed.

A fate that has reached its terminus is...

malleable.

An empty slate where there is room to write anew.

" Then his smile sharpened.

"Like you.

You stand at the edge of inevitability.

Your Loom has declared you finished.

The world has already accounted for your absence.

So, become my vessel, child.

I’ll save you from your end.

I’ll make you great.

I’ll even let your allies live and give them passage!

In return, you won’t have to trade much...

just yourself.

" I didn’t answer immediately.

After pretending to think it over, I replied with a small shake of my own head.

"Let me get this straight.

You’re offering me power in exchange for self.

Unrivaled strength in exchange for identity.

You save me from a fate I apparently can’t escape, and in return, I stop being...

me.

That about right?

" Vaeghar inclined his head slightly, like a king acknowledging a correct summary.

"Succinct.

Accurate.

" "Right.

" I exhaled slowly.

"Then let me rephrase my earlier answer.

" The air felt thicker.

Even the lilac water seemed to still.

"No.

" This time, the word didn’t echo.

This time, there was no confusion.

This time...

Vaeghar didn’t laugh.

"I’m demanding your life, one that’s already at its end, in exchange for your friends’.

And that’s your final answer?

" "Yeah.

" His expression softened.

"So be it.

I’ll just have to content myself...

by devouring you all!

" The moment those words left his lips, all hell broke loose.

First, the whole caldera started to shudder.

Then, without any warning, one of his claws zoomed in on me, descending toward my neck like the blade of a guillotine.

But before it could reach anywhere near my flesh, a sleek kunai streaked through the air in a flash of silver light and slammed into Vaeghar’s claw with a sharp CLANG.

It didn’t pierce him — of course it didn’t — but the blow deflected the incoming strike just enough to save my neck by a wide margin.

The claw veered off course and carved through empty air instead, the pressure alone blasting the lilac water upward in a spiraling shockwave.

The pond erupted and the flowers shredded.

But I didn’t move a muscle and kept standing right there in place, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Then we’re left with no choice but to shove you aside by force, demon.

"