Pain.
It tore through Kael Virek's chest like a cruel revelation. His eyes shot open, and the first thing he saw was light not the welcoming glow of dawn, but a spear of radiance forged into steel, driven clean through his heart.
A divine blade.
Its holy light seared his flesh, burning him from the inside out. The taste of blood filled his mouth, coppery and warm, and with it came the smell of incense and fire.
He looked down.
The sword was buried to the hilt. Glowing with power.
And behind it stood the woman he had trusted more than anyone else in the world.
Lyra.
Saintess of Dawnlight. Healer. Friend. The woman who had once held his hand during war, who had whispered prayers for his wounds, who had kissed his lips beneath a moonlit balcony.
Now her silver eyes were wide and shimmering with tears. Her fingers trembled around the hilt.
"Forgive me," she whispered, voice breaking. "This is the will of the gods."
Kael's legs gave out. He crumpled to his knees, impaled by the blade she had sanctified with her own prayers.
"No, Lyra…" His voice rasped, breath shallow. "It's not the gods. It's the will of cowards."
She recoiled.
His hands gripped the sword's blade, even as it burned his skin. Even now, he tried to pull it free but strength was leaving him, pouring out through the wound. He slumped forward, blood running down the altar steps like red wine from a shattered chalice.
He had saved their cities. Led their armies. Slain the darkspawn of the eastern marshes. Devoted his life to the Church of Light.
And now, they had discarded him.
Like a cursed blade dulled by victory.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE: YOU HAVE DIED.]
[ERROR – Hero Path Terminated]
[Override Detected… Executing Emergency Core Reboot…]
[New Path Unlocked: VILLAIN ROUTE]
What?
The pain vanished.
Not eased vanished.
His heart no longer beat. Yet he could feel everything: the weight of the world pressing down on him, the lies clinging to his soul, the betrayal crystallized into purpose.
Then the voice came.
Not divine.
Not even human.
A whisper cold, ancient, seductive.
"You gave your loyalty to gods. Give your wrath to me."
[REBOOTING SOUL CORE… ESTABLISHING HOST CONTROL…]
[System Name: DOMINATION SYSTEM]
[Unique Trait Detected: Rebirth Through Vengeance]
[Status: Villain Class – High Threat Potential]
Kael gasped.
The world shifted violently.
Stone cracked beneath him. The altar split in half with a grinding boom light erupted from the temple ceiling as if heaven itself was rejecting him. His body tumbled downward through collapsing stone, falling into the catacombs far beneath the Temple of Light.
When he awoke, everything was different.
Underground Ruins – Unknown Hours Later
He lay upon a bed of broken marble and ash.
The holy warmth that had once wrapped around his spirit like armor… was gone.
In its place was something else.
Darkness. Not absence, but presence. It pressed against him like a lover. Cold, seductive, endless.
He sat up slowly.
No pain. No blade. Just raw power flickering at the edges of his consciousness, like something half-awake.
The once-sacred catacombs were now littered with rubble and arcane corruption. Faint whispers echoed through the gloom remnants of long-dead priests, perhaps. Or echoes of the System itself.
[You have been reborn.]
[New Objective: Rise as the True Villain.]
[Begin Harem Subjugation Protocol]
Kael blinked. "...Subjugation what?"
More prompts followed, faster now. Data cascaded across his vision in flickering glyphs and text.
[First Target Identified: Lyra, Saintess of Dawnlight]
Status: Emotionally Vulnerable / Spiritually Fractured
Suggested Tactic: Reverse Bonding – Psychological Collapse
Reward: Healer Bond + Faithbreaker Class Perks
His breath fogged in the cold air.
They wanted him to corrupt her?
"She tried to kill me," Kael muttered. "And now you want me to save her?"
No, the whisper returned. Not save. Break. Rebuild. Make hers yours.
Kael rose.
His body pulsed with foreign power. The wound on his chest was gone no scar, not even a mark. But his soul was different. It no longer fit neatly into the mold the Church had carved for him.
He wasn't a paladin anymore.
Not a hero.
He was something else.
And he had a System.
[Skill Acquired: Soul Seed – Corrupt Bond (LV.1)]
Effect: Plant a spiritual anchor in a target.
Growth Through: Fear, Lust, Loyalty
Target must be emotionally conflicted to initiate.
He opened his palm.
A flicker of shadow danced across his fingers warm and cold all at once. Not fire. Not light. Something in-between.
Choice.
That was the power he had now. Not given by gods. Claimed.
Kael stepped toward the tunnel beyond the altar ruins. Moonlight bled in from the surface faint, broken, distant.
And yet, it was enough.
"They killed the hero."
He stopped at the threshold. Turned back toward the ruin that had once been his salvation.
"But now… they've made a villain."
A cruel smile curled his lips.
And this time, he wouldn't fight for the light.
He'd burn it down.
Scene Transition: Temple Surface – Hours Later
Far above, the Temple of Light was in disarray. The altar had been cleansed. The blade discarded. The High Cardinal declared that Kael's "tainted soul" had been purged in sacrifice.
But Lyra?
She hadn't spoken a word since the moment her blade pierced his heart.
Not to the Cardinal.
Not to the congregation.
Not even to herself.
She stood at the cliff's edge beyond the temple walls, wind whipping her hair, her hands still trembling from the weight of betrayal.
He had looked at her. Trusted her. And in that final moment, she saw something in his eyes that no divine decree could silence:
He wasn't evil.
He was betrayed.
And worse… she'd helped them do it.