Chapter 42: Nobody Wants to Take Me Seriously

I stood on the highest rooftop of the academy, the wind whipping my ridiculously overpriced cloak around me.

Below, students scurried between buildings like ants. Insignificant. Unaware of the true power that loomed over them from this very spot. A power they consistently ignored.

It was infuriating.

“Fools,” I practiced, my voice low and menacing. “You wander through your fleeting lives, chasing trivialities, while the gears of destruction grind ever onward.”

The line was pretty good. It had gravitas.

My gaze drifted toward the Demon King’s castle, visible as a dark spike on the horizon. Even he was a disappointment. A true rival, a supreme villain of his stature, should be plotting conquest. Instead, he spent his days spying on his daughter and the walking defensive wall she hung out with. It was pathetic. Where was the ambition? The dignity?

I was completely, utterly alone in my greatness.

“Am I a joke to you all?” I roared at the empty sky.

The wind howled back. It was my only audience.

No. I would not falter. My destiny was not to be a forgotten side character. My purpose was written in blood and shadow. They would all learn to fear my name. They would tremble and whisper it in the dark.

I struck a more dramatic pose, one hand pointing toward the heavens.

“The age of heroes is over! The era of demons is a childish fantasy! Now begins the eternal twilight, a new epoch ruled by the one true master of despair! The one who will cast down all others and reign supreme!”

My voice was getting hoarse, but my momentum was building. This was it. The grand finale of my speech. The reveal that would shake the very foundations of this world.

“Tremble, you mortals! Despair, you ancient evils! For I am the one, the only, the supreme—”

Footsteps echoed on the stone behind me.

Yes. Finally. A challenger. A hero drawn to my magnificent, terrifying aura. I turned slowly, my cloak flaring out behind me in a way I’d practiced for weeks. I let a cruel, knowing smirk settle on my lips.

It was Elizabeth. Her arms were crossed, and she had an impatient look on her face. Perfect. A worthy adversary.

She stopped a few feet away, tapping her foot.

“Hey, you.”

I raised a single, arrogant eyebrow.

“So, the so-called ‘Crimson Flash’ finally dares to confront me.”

She just stared at me blankly for a second. The smirk on my face faltered.

“Whatever. Do you know where Eksu is?”

My jaw went slack. My entire, carefully crafted persona crumbled into dust. She wasn’t here to fight me. She hadn’t even registered my epic, world-ending monologue. She was just looking for her boyfriend.

“He’s… probably in his room,” I muttered.

The words felt like ash in my mouth.

“Humpf.”

She turned and walked away without another word, her footsteps receding and leaving me in a stunning, soul-crushing silence. She passed me as if I were nothing. Less than nothing. I was a signpost. A talking piece of scenery.

I slumped against a stone gargoyle, my head in my hands.

Was this my fate? To be eternally upstaged? To be a footnote in someone else’s love story? It was the ultimate indignity. I could feel my very essence, my villainous core, shriveling up.

No.

NO!

I pushed myself off the gargoyle, renewed with pure, unadulterated spite. I would not be denied. My rage would be the engine of my rise to power. They would pay for this slight. They would all pay.

I threw my head back and screamed at the sky, pouring every ounce of my frustration into my voice.

“I AM THE ABYSS! I AM THE VOID! YOU WILL HEAR MY NAME AND YOU WILL KNOW FEAR! I AM—”

CRASH!

The sound of shattering glass echoed from across the campus, followed by a loud, percussive thump. A plume of suspiciously purple smoke drifted up from one of the science building’s windows.

Another one of Lilith’s experiments, probably.

My mouth hung open, my final, ultimate declaration stolen from me by a random bit of chaotic nonsense that had absolutely nothing to do with me.

I stood there, fists clenched at my sides, a supreme villain completely and utterly defeated by teenage antics.