Ash von Agnus's POV
Aegon von Agnus, the puppet master, one of the main villains of the novel and the most insane character in the story, was the only one who managed to control and manipulate the protagonist to achieve great victories against the demons.
Well, that's in the future.
What I see now is just a crying child covered in filth and tears. Is this the future emperor who will rule Arcadia? Tsk, tsk.
"How pathetic..."
Looking into those emotionless eyes, Aegon opened and closed his mouth several times.
...Despite trying, no words came out.
-Clank!
Aegon knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and stared at his bloodstained clothes.
These words hurt a child who lived as a pampered prince with great pride, whom no one dared to look down upon.
No matter how much he wanted to retort... he couldn't.
"How pathetic."
...No words matched better what Aegon felt at that moment.
He had always despised and bullied Ash, but he was never the one at a disadvantage. The humiliation he experienced today will never be forgotten.
Ash spoke, staring clearly at Aegon's miserable figure.
"Is this all your pride amounts to?"
"..."
Staring at the ground, Ash's words passed from one ear to the other... The world around Aegon turned black and white, and all the sounds around him faded.
Seeing Aegon's state, Ash walked past him and looked at him disdainfully.
"This is the real Aegon von Agnus, huh?"
An insecure brat with an overinflated ego.
This is Aegon...
Only in his darkest moments did his true character reveal itself.
People around him considered him a genius and a miracle.
They constantly praised his talents and efforts... but in the end, all they did was fuel his ego and insecurities.
Just like a castle made of sand, all it took was a simple push, and everything collapsed.
-Bam!
Staring at Aegon's miserable figure for a few more seconds, Ash lifted his foot and kicked him in the stomach.
"Ugh..."
Aegon felt a sharp pain in his stomach and bent over, retching several times.
"To think your pride only reaches this far... A few setbacks and this is the result... Pathetic."
"Let me teach you what happens when you mess with the wrong opponent," Ash's voice sent a shockwave through Aegon. Ash didn't care if his actions altered the plot; at this moment, he just wanted to punish the person in front of him more severely.
Ash rushed in. Seeing this, Aegon panicked and closed his eyes, bracing himself. Ash didn't care about his defense and now punched him in the face simultaneously. The shield could only negate so much damage, but Ash's aggressive attacks didn't give Aegon enough time to recover.
Aegon's breathing was rough, his face smeared with blood around his mouth. Ash approached Aegon, who could no longer lift his left hand. Ash's assault had left his right hand limp. Elbowing his chin, Ash immediately twisted his body, landing a kick to Aegon's face, making his entire body twist in the air before crashing to the ground face-first.
Ash stomped on Aegon's face, and before he could attack again, he finally grabbed Aegon's hair and pulled his face towards him.
"You've disappointed me."
-Smack!
Ash slapped Aegon's face once, released his hair, and tossed him aside like a piece of trash.
"Frankly, I couldn't care less if you died, but..."
Looking at Aegon's pitiful figure for a few more seconds, Ash turned and headed for the room's exit.
As he left, he muttered almost inaudibly,
"... I didn't want to get rid of this important pawn."
Watching Ash leave,
Aegon stared at him and hesitantly thought,
'What the hell is happening now?!'
Aegon wanted to scream, but given that his opponent was just Ash, his pride wouldn't let him.
"Who... who the hell are you?"
Even as his heart pounded and his forehead was covered in sweat, he tried to deny the truth while questioning Ash.
You can't be the stupid Ash I know!
The Ash standing before him was entirely different from the Ash he knew.
"Can't you see? If I'm not Ash, who am I?"
Completely relaxed, Ash shrugged and asked again.
"You're lying."
Although Aegon tried to deny the situation, nothing changed. For Aegon, this felt like a nightmare.
He did everything he could to suppress his incomprehensible emotions.
Remaining still, he thought,
'Well, I was going to stop here, but thinking about it...'
Every main character had their setbacks.
The protagonist had fought for his life since childhood, and the heroine had been lonely for most of her life... The main characters and even the villains also faced setbacks that shaped their current identities.
However, despite all those setbacks, they fought and reached where they were now.
Aegon?
What setbacks had he ever faced?
Protected by his family, Aegon lived a comfortable life as a wealthy prince, constantly fed with the best resources. Even his rise to the throne was completely protected. In the original story, Ash was disowned, and his twin sister died before the plot began. It was destined for Aegon to inherit the throne, whether he was competent or not.
He had always lived an easy life without any setbacks or reality checks to help him mature. He was just an overgrown child with childish ambitions and a narcissism filled with paranoia.
By what right did he boast and claim to be the best?
Without looking at Aegon, Ash glanced around the room and said coldly,
"I was going to stop here, but in the end, you're about to die by my hands..."
Aegon trembled for a few seconds but mustered some courage and said,
"Liar, you can't do that."
"We'll see."
Glancing at Patrick's corpse, Ash clenched his fist.
"Damn it... you've been spouting nonsense since you got here, huh?"
Clutching his stomach and using the wall for support, Aegon stood weakly.
Step by step, he moved towards Ash, slowly making his way to him.
-Stop
Standing before Ash, Aegon looked him directly in the eye with a mocking smile.
"You said you'd kill me, huh? Let me see you try."
Staring at Aegon, who was just a few inches away, Ash extended his hand and grabbed his throat.
"Ah?—Keogh"
Ash said coldly as he lifted Aegon's body into the air,
"For someone who acts tough all the time, you don't seem impressive to me..."
"Khhhh... Let go!"
Suddenly, Ash hoisted him into the air, and Aegon struggled to speak while swinging his legs.
"It's useless..."
Tightening his grip on Aegon's throat, Ash looked into his eyes and spoke,
"When you sleep, or whenever you do anything... I want you to remember this moment... Remember my hand around you, throat as you gasp for air, lying helplessly."
Pausing, while keeping his grip on Aegon's neck, Ash looked emotionlessly at Aegon who kept trying to free himself from his grip.
"Heh...damn it! Leave!"
...In the end, no matter what Aegon tried to do, he couldn't free himself from Ash's grip. All he could do was scream and curse helplessly.
"Khh"
Ash continued to increase the strength of his fist to silence Aegon
"...Engrave this moment into your mind...Realize that no one cares about this stupid pride of yours...While you lose your following you are just a scared puppy."
"For the rest of your life... I want you to remember this moment... this humiliation... Remember the moment when your pathetic self was almost lost to me... Remember me, the Ash you always despised crushing you!"
The more he listened to Ash's strong voice, the less Aegon would suffer.
Eventually, he stopped struggling completely
He had never felt so weak before...
Aegon felt the strong grip on his neck, and at this moment he realized how weak he truly was
The more Ash talked, the more Aegon wanted to deny what he was saying. He wanted with all his being to free himself from his grip and beat him to a pulp
'how dare you?'
'I will kill you'
All kinds of vengeful thoughts crossed his mind as he thought of the moment he would free himself from his grip.
As long as he got freedom, he would definitely…
Aegon stopped his thoughts for a moment and suddenly thought.
He'll be able to have freedom, right?
There was no way Ash was going to kill him… It's not like he was going to kill his brother, right?
…Looking at those emotionless eyes that seemed to be able to read his soul, Aegon trembled.
'What is this?"
Aegon felt his hands trembling, and an unfamiliar emotion washed over him.
An emotion he had never felt even when he was about to die… fear.
Looking at those emotionless eyes, Aegon felt naked. Almost as if every secret and thing about him had been laid bare before Ash's eyes for him to see.
Trembling, Aegon placed his hands on Ash's forearms and pleaded with him
"Khhh...s-top!"
Ignoring Igonen's pleas, Ash's grip on Igonen's throat increased even more
"...Shake off your pathetic pride if you want to avenge this day."
"Kh-ah"
In a last futile attempt to get oxygen into his system, Gene's face turned blue and he eventually lost consciousness.
When Ash saw Aegon lose consciousness, he loosened his grip on his throat.
...Even though his actions might come back and harm him in the future, he did what had to be done.
It didn't matter what kind of actions this moment would cause him in the future.
In his eyes, at this moment, such small setbacks were not something he cared about.
Eric looked at everything practically...all his actions were for his purpose only.
...And to him, a broken pawn was just as useless as a dead pawn.
While he was talking to Aegon, every word he said and every action he took were carefully thought out.
It means he knows Aegon's personality very well...
He knew about his fears and everything about him, from his pride to his circumstances...
For a proud person like Aegon, the more you insult him, the more fuel you add to the fire.
Looking at Aegon broken.
It was as if he was looking at a dying flame… a flame that no longer had fuel to burn on.
…All Ash did at that moment was try to reignite that flame.
Only by truly humiliating him and smashing his pride into pieces can he turn Aegon back to normal.
From the way Ash saw things, if things continued the way they were, Aegon's future would be bleak.
Even though his actions might lead to Aegon hating him, Ash didn't care.
I gave him a chance to either be a crazy villain, as mentioned in the novel or take a different path and tempt his fate. In both cases, he will become stronger...
I did everything in my power to fix Aegon... and now, only time will tell if his efforts have paid off.
-Click!
While Ash had his fist on Aegon's throat, he called the servants to treat him and clean up the mess that had been made.
When they arrived, he froze in horror, but they followed Ash's orders without asking about what happened.