Struggling as a Villain

In his previous life, there weren't many people whom Richard could call his friends. And especially, female friends.

He didn't know why but women always remained away from him, and given Richard was always surrounded by Bella, not many people approached him

He didn't mind tho, considering he didn't need many friends when he had Bella by his side and…his childhood friend, Rena.

Rena lived in the house next to theirs with her family. She was the same age as Richard, and she had a good relationship with Bella as well—something that greatly surprised him.

Rena used to visit his house on random occasions, and their families were close enough to spend festivals together.

Rena was more like Richard's male friend, given she loved to play baseball. Her hobby was comics and games; spending most of her pocket money on arcades and comics. And just like Richard she also wore pants until she turned thirteen and was forced to wear skirts.

When Richard turned fifteen, they moved away and they had contact over the phone. They didn't usually comtact each other, however, when they chatted, the calls went on for hours.

Rena was the only being with whom Richard was able to share his burden, his grief; someone in front of whom Richard had cried. After his parent's demise, Bella needed support, so Richard adopted a strong front. However, in front of that tomboy, he wasn't able to maintain his facade.

After hell broke loose, and zombies were everything they could worry about, Richard lost his connection with Rena.

He did try to reach out to her, went to her house, and tried asking her relatives whom he found along the way. However, despite his efforts, he couldn't locate her or any other of her family members.

Richard assumed that they might have died back then during the first wave since their house was in ruins. However, now, standing in front of Rena's younger brother, Richard felt that his prediction might be wrong.

"Carl?!" His eyes were parted wide as he saw the shaved-headed man standing there with his brows drawing closer.

"Brother…Ray?" Carl asked as he sensed the familiarity in the voice and the way he called Carl.

Richard, who once was called Ray, stepped toward him and asked, "How did you end up here? And…why did you kidnap Bella?"

Carl considered Bella as his big sister, and given Bella was looking completely unharmed, Richard discerned that this guy had brought her here to talk about something.

Carl facepalmed himself as he said, "If I knew she was staying with Brother Ray I would have rather come to you to talk."

Taking a pause, Carl added, "You look quite dashing compared to before, brother Ray."

Richard softly smiled and Bella rebuked, "Brother looked handsome before as well."

Carl raised his hands in defeat, "Got it."

Bella was now able to move her limbs so she got up and offered Richard the seat. Richard shook his head and gestured for her to sit back down before he asked,

"Carl…why did you bring Bella here?"

Carl's expression stiffened before he lowered his head and apologized, "I am ashamed of what I did, brother, but I couldn't think of any other option."

Bella frowned, "What option? What is this all about?"

Richard was curious as well, so he rested his displeasure aside for a moment and waited for the boy to explain himself.

Carl raised his head before he began, "When I heard about a Crimson Midnight witch who has conquered Vegas and was strong enough to go against a whole horde of S-rank monsters…I was shocked. And my shock elevated when her name I heard,"

He looked at Bella and Richard discerned what he was talking about.

Carl's shoulders slumped as he added, "However before I could have reached her to ask for help…sister Bella disappeared."

It was said that she was summoned to another world, and some say that she ended her life because of depression.

Richard frowned, "Help…for what?"

Carl's fist clenched as he revealed the whole story, "When everyone was receiving usual powers like elemental control and others…Rena received a cursed skill."

With his eyes turned dead cold, the other one added, "Regeneration."

Richard wasn't able to celebrate the fact that Rena was alive since the way Carl looked, it was obvious that something bad had happened.

"Big sis possessed a huge amount of mana that allowed her tissues and muscles to regenerate in a blink. She had no other ability than regeneration and an endless supply of mana."

Bella's eyes widened as she realized the implication of having such an awakening.

Her fears were proven to be warranted as Carl said, "Although I tried to keep her hidden from others…after a few years, a big gang from the east found her."

Richard clenched his fist, "Is she alive?"

Carl nodded, "She has to be…since they made Rena their major source of monster breeding."
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With a huge lump stuck in his throat, Carl said, "They started with her blood…feeding it to monsters allowed them to become berserk. And those gang members used those berserk monsters to take down their enemies."

"But they weren't satisfied…they even started feeding other hunters with her blood, and the results were the same. Although the hunters lost their sanity, they became unhinged and a powerful force for the gang."

"Then their greed elevated, and they started tearing her flesh and feeding it to the monsters ... and unfortunately, the results were more destructive than they thought."

With tears trailing down his eyes and his jaw tightly clenched, Carl added, "The monsters began to transform and evolve….fueling their greed for power and supremacy."

His whole body was trembling and the boy looked in pain and grief. He dropped to his knees and began wailing uncontrollably.

It could be seen from his reaction how much Carl regretted letting his sister be found out by those bastards.

Richard, on the other end, took a few moments to register what he just heard.

There are people in this world as well, who possess an intense amount of Ether, like Rose and his mother. But not even once people of this world ever thought of resorting to such inhumane practices.

'Has humanity stooped so low…' Richard couldn't believe that they were now resorting to using a human to feed their greed for power and authority.

Richard stepped forward and softly patted the guy on his back.

While sobbing Carl added, "They kept me hostage for a long time, until I ran away last year and collected these few men to retaliate. However, I knew it wasn't enough so I sought sister Bella's help."

"How did you arrive in this world?" Bella asked, her voice sounding unusually heavy, given she must have received a heavy shock upon hearing about Rena.

Carl slowly responded, "We knew we could not defeat those people all alone and we had some information in our hand with which we could have used to gain the trust of the residents of this world."

Richard frowned, "What information?"

Carl took a long breath to calm his nerves before informing him, "They are making a bridge to send hunters into this world and kidnap the warriors of this world so they could make them their magic suppliers as well."

Taking a pause he added, "The magic of this world is treated as treasure. Given the purity and quality, they want a few dozen magic-users of Clion."

Richard was already aware of the fact that the magic of Earth is far worse in comparison to ether and Aembr in this world for some reason.

But there was still something uncertain, "How did they receive knowledge about ether?"

"It was a man…teenager at best whom I once spotted with the gang leader. He was extruding a very profound presence and exhibited numerous skills which could easily overpower the mages back on earth."

Richard glanced at Bellarine, but the latter had no idea.

A name came up in his mind who could have done this…taking the risk of crossing the world, however, Richard didn't instantly land on a conclusion and asked Carl,

"Can you tell me his description? How did he look?"

"Ah, yes he was a teenage boy with sil-"

"Richard!" Suddenly two people landed in the shelter and Carl's eyes widened.

Richard turned to face Ethan and Rose who stood there with panic written over their faces.

Carl suddenly got up, his eyes still widened as he pointed his finger at Ethan and said,

"It was him! He was the one who gave them the idea!"

Every eye turned towards Ethan and the other masked beings in the room raised their weapons against Ethan.

Bella also looked at the teenagers with wary eyes while the person in question was beyond baffled.

The only person in the room who understood the whole situation, slowly rose to his feet and uttered,

'I now understand the whole thing…'

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A/N:- Thanks for reading the chapter. Drop PS, reviews and comments. It helps.n