Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses
Chapter 45: The Green hats

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: The Green hats

"Let go of her, bug. I don’t want to stain my hands with your filthy blood," Aden said, his spear igniting in a brilliant golden glow.

"Oh really? But I don’t think I will," Auston replied casually, positioning himself protectively in front of Carmella.

"You really just have to test my patience, don’t you?" Aden’s grip tightened on his spear, golden energy crackling around the weapon.

"You really can’t control yourself, can you?"

A young man with green hair and emerald eyes stepped forward, his arms folded as he stared at Auston through wire-rimmed glasses.

"Ethan," Auston muttered, recognizing his former rival. Once upon a time, Ethan had been Angelica’s fiancé, but thanks to Auston’s interference—and a lot of political maneuvering—the engagement had been cancelled. Ethan suspected it was really because of Auston’s extremely high potential to enter the Arcane Legacy that the king had considered breaking off the engagement. Better to have the prodigy as an ally than an enemy, after all.

"What? How is this any of your business? She’s my friend, damn it!" Auston protested.

"Just like Isabella, Annabella, Angelica, Ashley, Cassandra, and yeah—since Azalea is no longer here, you’ll probably go after Maria next," Ethan said with a cold gaze.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Auston scowled, his red wine-colored eyes beginning to glow ominously.

"Really? Are you deaf? Fine, let me spell it out for you: I’m saying you’re a nasty womanizer," Ethan replied with a casual tone.

Auston’s anger reached a boiling point. Flaming spears materialized from thin air, hovering menacingly around him.

"You should watch yourself, Ethan,"

"This is your last warning, Auston," Aden said, his voice shaking with rage. "I swear on the Arcane, I will destroy you if you don’t stop chasing after my girl."

He couldn’t—wouldn’t—end up like his friend Ethan, or even Ashley. Just days before the academy resumption, Ashley’s engagement to Maria had been completely dissolved with no proper explanation. Aden was pretty sure Maria had done something drastic enough for her family to break off the engagement so suddenly. To make matters worse, Maria had started acting even stranger, completely ignoring Ashley. The poor guy didn’t even know what to do anymore.

And Aden suspected all these changes were because of this slimy bastard standing before him now. He’d probably done the same thing to Maria that he’d done to Angelica.

He wouldn’t let the same thing happen to him. No! He would have Carmella by any means necessary. He’d waited too long to have everything destroyed by some womanizing dog who couldn’t be satisfied with just one woman—he wanted them all!

"She’s not yours," Auston shot back. "She has the right to choose who she wants to be with. I’m not saying she has to be with me, but you shouldn’t let your dick control your brain and think your position as some ’prince’ can be used to force her!"

"Oh, of course. The knight in shining armor—that’s all you’ll ever be," Ethan laughed, though the sound held no humor whatsoever. It was clear the young man despised Auston just as much as Aden did.

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind, and in the next instant—

"What?!" Auston, with some shred of luck, caught Aden’s movement. He promptly released Carmella, diving forward to protect her as his sword clashed with Aden’s spear. "You bastard! You could have hurt her!"

He tried to kick Aden, but the prince stomped the ground, launching himself into the air. Performing a perfect mid-air somersault, his spear twisted and slid off Auston’s blade. The weapon blazed golden as he spun it and swung straight for Auston’s neck.

BAM!

Auston’s feet skidded against the floor as he barely blocked the attack.

"YOU IDIOTS!" screamed a student who’d been caught in the blast that had thrown tables across the cafeteria. "PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO EAT!"

"Die, you vermin! Just die!" Auston swiftly moved his foot to the left, redirecting his blade and letting Aden slide past him. He tried to kick the prince from behind, but Aden regained his balance in a split second. A golden shield materialized behind him, absorbing the force of the kick and sending him tumbling until he landed on a table some distance away.

BAM!

Without waiting a single second, Aden jumped off the table. His spear struck the ground just as he’d predicted—Auston’s blade struck only the shaft. Taking advantage of this, Aden twisted his body with immense force, his knee connecting with Auston’s head. Auston blocked with his arm just as the hovering fire spears shot forward.

"Fool!" A massive golden turtle-like shield appeared before Aden.

BOOM!

The spears collided with the shield, creating a huge explosion that pushed both combatants back. With every passing second, the fight was escalating.

"HEY, YOU IDIOTS!"

A voice cut through their concentration. They looked up to find Nora, Auston’s sister and a junior, glaring down at them with the expression of someone who’d reached the absolute limit of her patience.

"What did you just say?" Aden growled.

"That while you idiots were fighting, the person you’re fighting over already left!" she announced.

Their eyes widened as they looked around, finally realizing Carmella was long gone.

"Tsk." Aden clicked his tongue in frustration. "It’s all your fault, you bastard."

"My fault?!" Auston, still thoroughly irritated, growled back.

It seemed the fight wasn’t ending anytime soon.

ARRRRRGH! Nora slapped her forehead once more at her brother’s behavior. At this point, there was already a permanent red mark on her forehead from repeated facepalming.

BOOM!

As they dove forward to clash again, someone suddenly appeared between them, catching both their weapons in his bare hands.

"!" Both their eyes widened as they quickly understood the implications of this man’s presence.

"My office. Now," was all the gray-haired, middle-aged man said before walking away

They looked at each other through gritted teeth, then began the walk of shame toward what would undoubtedly be a very unpleasant conversation.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Angelica simply stared at them. Only the omniscient gods could know what was going through their minds.