Download Chereads APP
Chereads App StoreGoogle Play
Chereads

Villainous Redemption (Almost)

🇳🇬David_Aneito
--
chs / week
--
NOT RATINGS
8.6k
Views
Synopsis
Vergil the Vile, a name whispered with fear and loathing, stood before Axios, the God of Redemption. Executed by the paladins he tormented for years, Vergil braced himself for the fiery depths. Instead, Axios offered a peculiar bargain. A chance to redeem himself, not through fiery trials, but through a twisted game. A soul-bound system, the Halo of Merit, would grant Vergil bits of his power based on his good deeds. Vergil, ever the cunning trickster, saw an opportunity. He wouldn't be Axios' puppet. He'd exploit the system, turning "good deeds" into elaborate manipulations.
VIEW MORE

Chapter 1 - The Twisted Bargain

The wind blew across the desolate, windswept plain, pulling with it a bitter chill that penetrated the very dept. The sky, vast as it is, was an empty expanse of gray, devoid of clouds or any other sign of life. Cracked was the ground and patched; patches of yellow grass struggling to survive against the harsh elements. Dust and sand swirled in the air, creating a hazy, blinding curtain that obscured the horizon.

A towering execution platform stood silhouetted against the bleak landscape. A skeletal figure, Vergil, stood before it, his form starkly outlined against the setting sun. His bones protruded from his skin, his eyes were hollow and devoid of life, and his face was contorted into a mask of pain and anger. The wind whipped at his tattered garments, sending them flapping wildly around him.

The High Paladin stood before Vergil, his voice booming across the desolate plain. A figure of immense power, clad in shining armor, he radiated an aura of authority and righteousness. His eyes, filled with righteous fury, pierced Vergil's soul.

"You, Vergil," he began, his voice dripping with contempt, "are a monster, a blight upon this world. Your crimes against humanity are too numerous to count. You have brought suffering and despair to countless innocent souls. You have ravaged the land, corrupted the pure, and turned darkness into light."

The crowd, whipped into a frenzy by the Paladin's words, roared their approval. Their voices echoed across the plain, an uproar of hatred and condemnation. Vergil stood defiant, his face a mask of cold indifference. He refused to be cowed by their accusations, their threats, or their judgment.

The High Paladin accused Vergil of countless atrocities; the lives, countless they are, that were lost, famine, discarded lands, and desolated civilizations. Vergil nodded to himself. Indeed, he had lived up to his name, 'Vergil the Vile'. He will be remembered for generations to come for his evil deeds.

That, to him, was a win.

Bound to the platform, Vergil was nothing but a sitting dock. The Paladin pressed his blade against the back of Vergil's neck, its cold, unforgiving edge biting into his skin. The weight of the sword, heavy, and menacing promised a swift and violent end, and the world seemed to slow down as he waited for the inevitable, a moment suspended in time, a final breath before the darkness claimed him.

Just as the blade was about to fall, a blinding light erupted from the sky, casting the execution platform in an ethereal glow. Vergil met the eyes of what seemed to be a celestial being; Its form coalescing from stardust and celestial fire. It was a being of immense power, its radiance both awe-inspiring and unnerving. The otherworldly figure approached the execution platform, his presence commanding reverence and awe.

A sardonic chuckle escaped Vergil's lips. It seems his name had found its way to the ethereal world, and this being, whatever it was, must be here to personally escort him to his eternal damnation, a fiery pit that would finally consume the darkness that pulsed within him.

Axios approached Vergil, a hint of amusement flickered in the god's luminous eyes. "Vergil the Vile," Axios boomed, his voice a chorus of celestial winds, "you stand not at the precipice of oblivion, but at the crossroads of a peculiar fate."

A band of shimmering metal materialized on Vergil's desiccated hand. It wasn't a shackle, not quite. The Halo of Merit pulsed with an alien light, a sickly mockery of the celestial glow emanating from Axios. The God's amusement had morphed into something akin to a celestial chess master setting a pawn on the board.

"Power can be regained, Vergil. But not through the blood and bone offerings you've grown so accustomed to." said Axios, the word echoing like a cosmic gong.

With a wave of his hand, a vision unfolded before Vergil. It wasn't a tapestry of brimstone and torment, but a world shrouded in an unnatural darkness. Monstrous figures, their forms shifting and grotesque, writhed in the gloom, their hunger a palpable presence. A wave of dread washed over Vergil. Something about this scene felt a little too familiar.

"This is the future your world faces," Axios continued. "A future you were once destined to be a part of, on the side of the damned."

Vergil scoffed, a dry rasp that grated against the ethereal silence. Destined? A pawn in some celestial game? He was Vergil the Vile, not a knight errant in shining armor.

"Good deeds will rekindle the power you crave. The more… virtuous… your actions, the stronger you'll become," Axios continued.

The absurdity of it all fueled a dark ember of amusement within Vergil. Good deeds? A twisted path to power perhaps, a way to manipulate this celestial game. A grim smile, a ghost of his former self, played on his lips. He'd play the hero, a wolf in sheep's clothing, his every "good deed" a calculated move towards freedom, perhaps even a chance to settle some old scores. The irony, he thought, was delicious. Let the world teeter on the brink, let them fear the approaching darkness. He'd be their reluctant savior, a hero forged from the very shadows he once commanded.

With a hint of his old arrogance returning, Vergil rasped: "This sounds… amusing."

"This is no amusement, Vergil," boomed Axios, "This is a choice. Will you wield your power to feed the darkness, or become the light that drives it back?"

Axios' amusement was momentarily replaced by a flicker of something akin to pity. "The path you choose, Vergil, is laden with peril. Stray from true good, and the consequences will be… severe."

The god offered no details, no glimpse into the punishments that awaited. But the undercurrent of warning was unmistakable.

Vergil, however, remained undeterred. He reveled in the challenge, the audacity of manipulating a god's own system. With a final, sardonic chuckle, he faced a blinding light that engulfed him whole.

The world dissolved into a bedlam of stench. Vergil sputtered, his desiccated form slamming onto the blood-soaked earth. He was in a village square, the remnants of a recent battle scattered around him. The air was filled with the cries of the wounded and the metallic tang of death. A perfect tableau of misery, Vergil thought, a perfect opportunity.

Vergil ran his hand across his face, feeling the smooth contours of his skin. Gone was the contorted mask that had become so familiar. His features were relaxed, his expression almost serene.

A dark grin, wider and more malevolent this time, spread across his face. "Good deeds huh," he murmured.

He surveyed the scene, his mind already calculating the most "virtuous" course of action, the one that would yield the most power and further his own agenda.