The graduation banquet of Saint Nora Emblem Academy was the most dazzling jewel of the social season in the royal capital, Lucien.
Crystal chandeliers poured flowing light onto the polished marble floor, refracting into countless brilliant colors.
The air was filled with the tipsy bubbles of champagne being opened, mixed with the layered, rich fragrance of expensive perfume.
But what truly made this feast shine was the boundless hope for the future shining in the eyes of the young nobles.
Livia von Stern was like a bright moon, surrounded by countless stars, the absolute center of this banquet.
She wore a pure white lace-trimmed dress, with every cut perfectly accentuating the girl’s already mature, graceful curves.
Delicate white stockings clung to her slender legs, and on her feet were a pair of delicate high heels with slim heels.
Her soft platinum blonde hair was draped over her shoulders, adorned with a few small, pure lily decorations.
The girl’s cornflower blue eyes were clear and clean, and when her gaze swept over the crowd, it carried a balanced warmth and detachment befitting her status as First Seat.
Just standing there quietly, she effortlessly attracted the attention and admiration of everyone.
“Miss Livia, you saved my life during the previous cultist attack. Thank you very much.”
A noble student stepped forward and bowed respectfully to her.
Livia merely nodded slightly, her voice cool and firm.
“Protecting others is my creed. You don’t need to be so polite.”
“Boo hoo, Livia, we have to keep in touch even after graduation!”
A noble girl with red-rimmed eyes approached affectionately and took her arm.
Livia smiled in response, but her body subtly maintained a polite distance.
“Miss Livia, I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince intends to enter into a marriage contract with you. Is that true?”
A handsome young nobleman boldly asked the topic that everyone present was holding their breath for.
In an instant, the nobles present pricked up their ears without moving, even their breathing softened.
They weren’t just concerned about royal gossip, but also the political landscape of the Kingdom of Lorraine for decades to come.
Every decision Livia made could easily break the fragile balance between the kingdom’s factions.
Livia’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a perfectly appropriate hint of trouble showed in her beautiful eyes.
“This… forgive me, but I’m not in a position to disclose that for now.”
This answer was perfect—neither confirmed nor denied, leaving infinite room for speculation.
“Miss Livia, is it true that you’ve officially joined the Royal Knights?”
Someone in the crowd asked loudly.
This time, the confusion faded from Livia’s smile, replaced by determination.
“Yes. I will fulfill my duty to protect the kingdom’s people.”
Timely bursts of sincere admiration erupted from the crowd.
Livia was the embodiment of perfection, the indisputable pride of the academy, and the ideal future star in the eyes of all sword nobility.
The so-called sword nobility were the true nobles who, from birth, had the power of the emblem in their blood and had stood for generations on martial strength and authority.
***
Meanwhile, the robe nobility—like the Laval family, who climbed into high society through money and tax farming—were nothing but nouveau riche stinking of money in their eyes.
In the most inconspicuous corner of the banquet hall, Allen de Laval couldn’t care less about the contemptuous and disdainful looks directed at him.
He was holding a plate piled high with food, stuffing it into his mouth like a hamster.
Allen’s black hair was somewhat disheveled, sticking to his forehead. His face showed a sickly pallor from chronic lack of sleep, and there were two heavy dark circles under his eyes.
The half-worn formal suit he wore was full of wrinkles, clashing completely with the luxurious scene of perfumes and fine clothes around him.
While other nobles dressed up to expand their social networks, Allen’s sloppy appearance made him look more like an irrelevant person who had sneaked into the banquet for free food.
Although Allen was also a graduate of Saint Nora Emblem Academy, calling him a freeloader wasn’t wrong.
Today’s graduation banquet was a top-tier buffet personally prepared by the royal chef.
To fully enjoy this luxurious feast, Allen had starved himself until he had to lean on the wall to enter, and he was determined to lean on the wall to leave, stuffed full.
The Laval family… had long since declined.
For Allen now, just finding a way to fill his stomach every day was already a huge challenge.
While mechanically chewing the delicious food, he stole glances at the radiant Livia through the gaps in the crowd.
Just secretly admiring Livia’s beautiful face, Allen’s eyes uncontrollably grew moist.
After tonight, their lives would be like two parallel lines that never intersect, with no connection whatsoever.
A single hot tear rolled down Allen’s cheek, landing precisely on the foie gras on his plate.
This was not because of sadness but because of… irrepressible joy.
‘Finally… I’ve finally made it!’
Allen silently screamed with all his might in his heart, so excited he almost choked on his food.
He quickly grabbed the goblet beside him, took a big gulp of the expensive wine to wash it down, but ended up coughing violently, earning disgusted glances from nearby nobles.
After today, he, Allen de Laval—the minor villain and villainous young master who couldn’t even survive three episodes in the original game Starlight Love Song—would finally say goodbye to Livia von Stern, the heroine and Phoenix Overlord!
In the original story, he wouldn’t even make it past the academy arc, dying off in various bizarre ways—but that was before!
Now, after experiencing 998 playthroughs of ruin, after being sent to hell by this cursed star directly or indirectly countless times, he had finally survived to the graduation banquet thanks to his cockroach-like tenacity.
What did this mean? It meant he had successfully avoided all the death flags related to him in the original! It meant he could finally shake off Livia, this walking reaper, and welcome a dawn called “being alive”!
Think of those painful cycles!
Sacrificed as an offering by cultists, blown to pieces by a the experiment went out of control, poisoned to bleed from all orifices by jealous nobles, crushed into meat paste by a runaway carriage, and even struck into charcoal by a “heaven-sent” thunderbolt for stepping out of the academy gate with his left foot first…
Allen’s soul was nearly covered with dense epitaphs from all these bizarre deaths.
But in this playthrough, he had learned his lesson. He kept his tail between his legs, living as quietly as a ghost in the academy.
He absolutely never took the initiative to provoke any story characters, especially Livia, that Phoenix Overlord!
He had perfectly played the part of a background character, with nothing but a bad reputation and pitifully low presence, successfully avoiding all known fatal incidents!
As for why he ended up in this fucking game world?
It all started with that famous otome game masterpiece, Starlight Love Song.
As an omnivorous otaku, Allen played all types of games before his transmigration.
He stumbled upon yuri fans enthusiastically recommending this game, praising its yuri route as the industry’s ceiling, and clicked on it out of curiosity.
But then he found that the game’s plot scale was terrifyingly large, and the gameplay was so hardcore it made your head bald—from nation-building to military flag drills, even playing with a walkthrough left you sweating bullets.
He was in the middle of grinding through an extremely complex hidden route when everything went black, and when he opened his eyes, he became the villainous young master in the game—Allen de Laval—a character who did nothing but stupid things and was universally despised.
His cheap father was only a robe noble who bought his title with money. Allen himself was a notorious bully, a classic minor villain designed to be a thorn in the heroine Livia’s path.
The only thing players liked about him was his varied deaths—the official statistics listed 1000 collectable death methods!
Players loved watching him die in ridiculous ways, especially those who adored the heroine, wishing he’d kick the bucket early to make way for the lead.
Allen used to be one of those gloating players. Until he became Allen himself.
The more he had once enjoyed slaughtering the villainous young master Allen with his cheats, the more miserable he was now.
‘It’s finally going to end… After tomorrow, I’ll escape to a place Livia will never find me, face the sea, and enjoy the blooming flowers.’
Imagining that wonderful lazy life in the future, Allen was moved and his eyes grew wet again.
Seeing Allen’s pathetic, crying-laughing, wholly un-noble display, the surrounding nobles made no effort to hide their remarks:
“Hey, isn’t that Allen de Laval? Hasn’t his family gone bankrupt? How does he still have the face to attend this banquet?”
“Damn it, the guards should just kick him out. His mere presence defiles Miss Livia’s purity!”
“This emblemless waste who can’t beat anyone has no right to share the same space as us sword nobility!”
Allen automatically ignored these flies buzzing around him, thinking to himself,
‘I’m here for the buffet, do I need your permission?’
‘What business is it of yours if my family is bankrupt?’
‘What’s wrong with not having an emblem? Never seen a mortal path before?’
Just as Allen decided to hide behind the potted plants out of the nobles’ sight and enjoy his meal in peace, the two heavy oak doors of the banquet hall were violently slammed open with a bang.
Crown Prince Charles Durand, along with a fully armed squad of Royal Knights, stormed in with intimidating momentum.
The previously noisy, music-filled banquet hall fell into a dead silence in that instant.
Charles Durand wore a gorgeous white suit with gold trim. His face was as handsome as an ancient sculpture, his ice-blue eyes sharp as an eagle’s.
He nodded elegantly to the crowd, calming the restless guests and frightened graduates with a steady, reassuring demeanor.
Then his gaze passed through the crowd and landed precisely on Livia, his tone carrying a trace of formal concern.
“Miss Livia, I apologize for interrupting the festivities. Something urgent has come up.”
Immediately, his sharp eyes swept the crowd with overwhelming pressure.
Allen’s heart tightened.
He could recite this damned plot in his sleep.
In the original, the Crown Prince had discovered that a cultist had infiltrated the banquet to assassinate Livia, so he arrived just in time to pull off a classic hero-rescuing-the-beauty scene.
But Allen clearly remembered that, to ensure he could smoothly obtain his diploma, he had already secretly “disposed of” the cultist disguised as a student beforehand.
That poor cultist’s bones should have long turned into flower fertilizer in the academy’s backyard by now. So why was this event still triggering?!
After dying 998 times, he was used to the world’s bone-deep malice toward him.
He harbored almost no hope; the Crown Prince’s visit was 100% aimed at him.
Allen made a split-second decision. Holding his unfinished plate of food, he lowered his head deeply and tried to burrow into the deepest part of the crowd.
But wherever he went, the crowd parted for him as if he were a plague, leaving a vacuum. The Crown Prince’s gaze soon locked onto the conspicuously isolated Allen in the crowd.
“Allen de Laval!”
Charles’s voice fell like a cold hammer of judgment, crashing through the air of the hall and ringing throughout.
Allen’s body froze in place.
Charles stepped forward, looking down on him from a height, making no effort to hide the disgust in his eyes.
“Your father, Bernard de Laval, as the kingdom’s tax farmer, abused his authority, extorted the people, and caused widespread resentment! He has been lawfully executed by the kingdom!”
Allen slowly lowered his eyelids, silently mourning his cheap father for 0.5 seconds.
‘Old man, you’re dead again and again… rest in peace.’
Charles’s voice did not pause, continuing with unquestionable conviction:
“And you! As a noble, you oppress the good and harm the virtuous, tarnishing the reputation of the nobility!”
“Even more heinous, you secretly colluded with cultists of the Crimson Spiral Order, planning to murder the kingdom’s treasure—Miss Livia von Stern—tonight!”
“The evidence is conclusive! Royal Knights, seize this traitor and execute him on the spot!”
After hearing this, Allen felt an absurd fury rush to his head, burning so hot that his temples throbbed.
‘What kind of international joke is this!’
‘Conclusive evidence? Where is the evidence?’
‘The Laval family has been dirt poor for ages. My cheap father, just to pay for my schooling (mainly so I could freeload on the academy’s free meals), would squeeze every coin until it screamed. How could he have exploited anyone?’
‘As for me, I have a blood feud with the cultists (I’ve died at their hands so many times in other playthroughs). Colluding with them? Bullshit!’
‘This is a blatant, low-effort frame-up!’
However, Allen was well aware that trying to overturn the Crown Prince’s accusations through legal means in this situation was pointless.
The other party was Charles Durand, one of the heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Lorraine! Once he decided to kill Allen, Allen—a fallen minor noble without even a formal title—had no escape.
Allen was not Livia, the Phoenix Overlord heroine. He couldn’t overthrow the entire world on his own.
He had originally planned to pack up some of the leftover gourmet food from the nobles after the banquet and bring it home for his father to try.
But now, it seemed these exquisite dishes would only serve as a funeral offering for the two of them.
“Fine,” Allen raised his head, a twisted villainous smile curling on his lips, still holding his plate steady. “If Your Highness says so, then so be it.”
He tapped the edge of the plate lightly with his silver fork, producing a crisp sound.
“Can I at least finish this last bit? After all, we shouldn’t waste food. The kingdom is still in famine.”
As he spoke, Allen leisurely forked a piece of sauce-laden roast meat, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed obliviously, as if the Crown Prince hadn’t condemned him to immediate execution but had instead announced the death of some unlucky passerby he happened to be watching.
“Welp, if I’m going to die, I’d rather die with a full stomach and be a happy ghost.”
Allen’s ridiculous attitude of thinking about food even at death’s door immediately drew snickers from the surrounding nobles.
The nobles didn’t care whether the Crown Prince’s sentence was legal or proper. To them, trash like Allen de Laval, who was hated by both humans and dogs, deserved his death and wasn’t worth an ounce of sympathy.
Just the thought of enjoying a bloody beheading show tonight thrilled these troublemaking noble students, who even began shouting encouragement.
“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”
Livia’s gaze swept over the twisted, bloodthirsty faces of the spectators, a frown creasing her elegant brows.
She disliked this cold attitude of the nobles treating human life like dirt. Even if Allen was really guilty, he shouldn’t be executed so hastily without a trial.
Given Livia’s current prestige in the kingdom, a single word from her could easily stop this violence. Yet, she chose to remain silent, a rare decision.
Livia went against the justice she had always upheld, for reasons complex enough to confuse even herself.
She had vague, dream-like memories of Allen, even though she had never had any form of public contact with him in the three years at the academy.
In those memories, which came from nowhere, Allen was an “Abyss Walker” with a fierce expression and eyes burning with vengeance.
He was a high-ranking member of the Crimson Spiral Order, second only to its leader, the “Listener of the Stars.”
She had fought countless fierce battles with the Allen from those memories. His strength was in no way inferior to hers, and he had once even pushed her into a corner.
People who could become her opponent and leave such a deep impression were few and far between.
These seemingly false, groundless memories now seemed to have found some eerie confirmation.
Even though it was supposed to be their first time seeing each other this close, the moment the Crown Prince burst in, Livia instantly recognized Allen’s face.
‘This is too strange!’
‘Could it be that the Allen before me really mastered some unknown evil art, erased her memories of him, but for some reason didn’t completely delete them?’
‘Livia’s heart was full of hesitation. The Crown Prince said Allen colluded with the Crimson Spiral Order… maybe it’s not without foundation?’
The two Royal Knights didn’t give Allen the chance to die a happy death. They immediately stepped forward, reaching for Allen’s shoulders.
Just as their cold armor was about to touch Allen’s clothes, something unexpected happened!
Allen, who had looked resigned to his fate, suddenly lifted his drooping eyes, his gaze turning as fierce as a beast in its death throes!
He hurled the heavy silver plate in his hand with all his might, smashing it into the left knight’s face!
Soup, meat, and shards of the shattered plate, mixed with wine and sauce, splattered all over the knight’s face!
“Ah!” the left knight cried out in pain, instinctively closing his eyes and raising his hand to block, his movements stuttering for a moment.
Taking advantage of the chaos and blocked vision, Allen’s body dropped low. His right hand shot out like lightning, his fingers precisely gripping the hilt of the sword hanging at the right knight’s waist, and he yanked it free!
Shing!
A flash of cold light appeared under the banquet hall’s chandeliers!
There was no fancy swordsmanship in Allen’s movements—only the most primal, most lethal ferocity honed through thousands of death cycles.
He swung the sword in a backhand slash, precisely and viciously cutting across the right knight’s exposed and unprotected throat.
Warm blood gushed out like a fountain.
At the same time, Allen’s feet twisted weirdly, and his left foot, like a battering ram, kicked the left knight’s knee from the side.
Crack!
The sound of bone breaking was clear. The left knight screamed in agony, collapsing to his knees uncontrollably.
Allen flicked his wrist, and the sword in his hand, whistling through the air, instantly pierced the knight’s exposed heart!
The entire process happened in the blink of an eye!
When the stunned crowd finally came to their senses, two skilled Royal Knights lay motionless in a rapidly spreading pool of blood.
And the man they had just mocked as a useless waste, Allen de Laval, stood holding a blood-dripping sword, his eyes icy as he scanned the surroundings.
He exuded a terrifying bloodlust, as if he had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood from hell.
“See something you haven’t? Never seen anyone die?”
Hiss— A sound of gasps echoed through the hall.
Extreme shock froze on every noble student’s face. They screamed and scrambled backward, leaving a wide, dead passage between Allen and the Crown Prince.
Allen couldn’t be bothered with these turncoats. He stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the blood smeared on his mouth.
The salty, rusty taste mixed with a strange burning heat began to race through his body, stimulating every nerve.
As cunning as he was, he had long anticipated that tonight’s graduation banquet would not go smoothly.
He had ground the Crimson Spiral Order’s elixir he’d taken from the unlucky cultist into a powder and cleverly hidden it in the food on his plate, just in case.
And just now, under the cover of being a “glutton,” he had swallowed the elixir mixed into his food.
Now, the forbidden power of the drug was rampaging through his veins, frantically draining his life force, but it also granted him a brief, terrifying strength.
Death was nothing new to him. Since the path of lying down and letting himself be slaughtered was blocked, he might as well overturn the table and fight to the death!
Since you accuse me of being a cultist, I might as well really have the terrifying combat power of one!
And it worked.
In countless past cycles, Allen had always died humiliatingly at the hands of nameless extras in the original.
He had finally learned his lesson through endless pain.
Even a despised minor comic villain should have the dignity of a villain!
If he was going to die, it had to be at the hands of a main character like Livia!
To that end, in a corner no one knew about, he secretly trained in martial arts and learned killing techniques from various schools.
He had no emblem symbolizing talent and glory, so he relied solely on an iron will beyond human limits, honing himself in death after death.
After countless playthroughs, a swordsmanship style he created himself, named “Villain Reincarnation Style,” was engraved into his soul.
The core of this style was extreme weakness. He wanted everyone to think he was just a useless minion, letting down their guard completely.
Then, at the moment of their greatest laxity, he would go all out, trading life for life, catching them off guard.
The battle instincts and painful memories accumulated over countless death cycles were finally ignited in this moment.
He might never be able to defeat Livia, that overpowered cheat-like being. But at least he would make Crown Prince Charles, that arrogant bastard, pay with his blood for his pride!
“Protect His Highness!”
The remaining Royal Knights finally snapped out of their shock. They roared, drawing their swords and forming a formation to charge at Allen.
But Allen was faster! The elixir’s power surged through his veins, releasing both tearing pain and explosive strength.
His figure darted nimbly through the panicked, fleeing nobles, his sword turning into a series of deadly, soul-seeking cold flashes.
There was no grace or structure from noble traditions in his swordsmanship—only the ruthless, cunning desperation of street brawls. Every swing of his sword carried the madness of mutual destruction!
Two more knights who tried to intercept him were cut down as he exchanged wounds for their lives.
He carved a bloody path through the elite knights, drenched in gore, like a demon, his target now fixed on Crown Prince Charles!
To reach the banquet hall quickly, the Crown Prince and his close guards had come lightly armed, without heavy plate armor.
Charles clearly hadn’t expected that this robe noble waste, whom he viewed as an ant, could unleash such terrifying power and killing intent.
He hadn’t anticipated that this man could break through the Royal Knights’ defense and rush right in front of him.
Looking into Allen’s bloodshot eyes, filled with wild murder, Charles’s face lost its princely composure for the first time, a flicker of poorly concealed shock passing over it.
But that shock quickly turned to cold anger.
“You waste! Are you rebelling?!”
He shouted, trying to suppress his opponent with his authority, but his body instinctively took a half step back.
“Charles Durand!” Allen’s voice was thick with the smell of blood. “You sanctimonious mongrel!”
“It’s you greedy, incompetent rulers who left the people with no way to live, but you still heap all the blame on my family!”
“My old man was a tax farmer for three years, but he couldn’t collect a single cent from starving peasants eating tree bark! Where did he extort anything?”
“Today, I’ll kill you in the name of justice! Now get down there and kowtow to my father in apology!”
He didn’t intend to waste words. Kicking off the ground, he shot toward Charles like an arrow from a bow.
The sword he had taken from the knight, channeling all his hatred and the life burning within him, transformed into a chilling flash of light, aimed straight at Charles’s heart!
The surrounding nobles burst into even more terrified screams. Charles’s face drained of all color in an instant.
Just when it seemed a deadly blow was imminent, a pure white figure moved like teleportation, silently appearing in front of the Crown Prince.
It was Livia!
She hadn’t brought her emblematic personal sword tonight. She simply raised her right hand calmly, her fingers spread delicately. Before her palm, the air twisted intensely, refracting light.
A translucent sword formed of formless energy materialized out of thin air—a “Wind Sword.”
This was the power of her “Star Emblem.” She had cleverly reshaped her defensive “Star Shield” into the form of a sword.
Clang!
Allen’s sword, infused with all his power and the last of his burning life, struck hard against the seemingly illusory wind sword!
Instead of the anticipated clang of metal, there was a dull, soul-shuddering sound of energy impact.
Allen felt as if he had struck an invisible, incredibly tough rubber band! A huge recoil traveled along the blade, splitting his tiger’s mouth and nearly tearing the sword from his hand!
Livia’s clear, lake-like blue eyes reflected Allen’s fierce, blood-covered face.
A trace of genuine surprise flickered across her nearly perfect face.
This son of a robe noble—who had been nearly invisible for three years at the academy, dismissed as a waste and a joke—had just displayed strength, speed, and a suicidal ferocity that completely defied her understanding.
The fierce, desperate look in Allen’s eyes now overlapped almost perfectly with the “Abyss Walker” from her fabricated memories!
But Livia’s surprise lasted less than a second before being replaced by her usual coldness.
She flicked her pale wrist, letting the wind sword arc to one side, sending a massive force surging forth.
Allen felt an irresistible whirlwind engulf him, sending him flying backward!
Thump!
He slammed heavily into the cold stone wall of the banquet hall with a dull sound.
It felt like his internal organs had been dislodged by the impact. A warm, coppery liquid surged into his throat.
Ugh! He vomited a mouthful of blood.
Bright red drops, like beautiful plum blossoms, splattered onto the polished marble floor and the ornate walls.
Allen struggled, trying to use the sword to push himself up, but his bones screamed with agony.
The elixir power still rampaged through his body, tearing at him, but the extreme pain was the only thing keeping him from passing out.
He wiped the blood from his mouth, a mad grin spreading across his face.
He had seen it.
He had clearly seen that fleeting surprise in Livia’s eyes.
It gave him a sick, twisted satisfaction.
Pft…
Allen panted heavily, his laugh hoarse and weak.
“Good thing… the cult’s elixir… this stuff… really packs a punch…”
Livia’s brow furrowed even deeper.
‘Order? Elixir?’
‘Why would Allen de Laval have access to these forbidden things hidden in the kingdom’s shadows?’
‘Could it be that the Crown Prince’s accusation… wasn’t baseless?’
‘Did he really join that notorious Crimson Spiral Order?’
“Livia von Stern!”
Allen used the sword tip to prop himself up, wobbling back to his feet.
Blood kept seeping from his mouth and nose, but the last flame in his eyes burned even brighter.
His voice was intermittent, carrying a chilling obsession.
“How… you again?”
His voice was intermittent, carrying a chilling obsession.
“Can’t you… just let me off… once and for all?”
“Or is it… you really fell for that scumbag Crown Prince?”
Livia tightened her grip on the wind sword, starlight swirling around her. Her voice was ice-cold.
“You truly are a cultist. In that case, I won’t show any mercy.”
“Mercy?” Allen let out a short, incredulous laugh as if she had told the funniest joke in the world. “Have you ever had any of that… for me?!”
Before his words faded, he launched himself again!
This time, he held nothing back, pushing the remaining elixir power to its absolute limit.
His speed was even faster than before!
He became a blur of bloody afterimages, charging at the white figure with a desperate, suicidal resolve.
The sword in his hand tore through the air with a piercing screech.
Bang! Bang! Clang! Riiip—!
Their figures clashed in an instant before the horrified eyes of the crowd, moving so fast they were almost impossible to follow.
Allen’s sword was like a storm, each strike full of power, while Livia was like a reef standing firm in the storm.
Her movements were fluid and graceful, her footwork exquisite.
The illusory wind sword in her hand always blocked at the most precise angles, deflected with the most subtle force, and countered at the most lethal moments.
The invisible barrier formed by starlight dissolved Allen’s savage attacks effortlessly.
Allen’s swordsmanship was indeed ferocious and sharp, carrying the unique madness and desperation of a cornered outlaw.
But against Livia’s absolute power, superior skill, and the crushing force of her emblem, it all seemed clumsy and futile.
Every movement of hers was simple to the extreme, yet devastatingly efficient.
Each block was perfectly timed, as if she had already predicted Allen’s attack trajectory, and every counteraimed at the smallest openings in his flow.
The wind sword in her hand seemed to have a life of its own, nimble and ever-changing.
Allen’s wounds multiplied, blood nearly dyeing his shabby suit a deep crimson.
He felt like he was a mortal body, uselessly struggling against an immovable mountain.
Each clash of blades made his blood churn and his sword arm grow numb.
The power from the elixir was draining quickly.
That familiar, bone-chilling feeling of death crept up from his feet again.
Crash!
A deafeningly sharp sound broke through the banquet hall.
Allen’s stolen, low-quality knight’s sword, after one more violent collision with the wind sword, let out a final, agonized screech.
Under the immense force, the blade shattered inch by inch, shining fragments flying in all directions like deadly locusts.
Allen completely lost his balance, stumbled, and fell forward uncontrollably.
Then, a foot clad in a delicate white high heel pressed down on his back from above, pinning him to the cold marble floor in a posture of utter humiliation.
The smell of dust mixed with thick blood forced its way into Allen’s nostrils.
“It’s over.”
Livia’s cool voice came from above, with no fluctuation in emotion.
Allen’s cheek pressed against the floor, letting him feel the bone-chilling cold of the stone and the heat of his own blood.
He gave up struggling, turning his head with difficulty, looking up with the last of his peripheral vision.
Against the dazzling light of the banquet hall, Livia was looking down at him. A few strands of her platinum blonde hair fell carelessly, her pure white lace dress still spotless.
Her action of stepping on his back was crisp and efficient, full of the absolute control of a victor over the vanquished.
From this humiliating angle, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Her majesty and power made Allen vaguely remember why he had played Starlight Love Song in the first place.
From the very beginning, he had been attracted by the dazzling figure of the heroine, Livia.
It was because of her that he had bought the otome game Starlight Love Song.
Of course, a grown man being obsessed with an otome game was definitely strange. But liking a character, why should he care about worldly opinions?
Yet fate had played a cruel joke on Allen.
That once beautiful game world, for a villain character like Allen, had become an endless nightmare.
After being killed by this Phoenix Overlord thousands of times, Allen’s initial love for Livia had been reduced to bone-deep fear and hatred.
“It’s over for you…” Allen’s voice was full of exhaustion and irony. “But for me… this is just the beginning.”
The gap between a villainous waste and a Phoenix Overlord with a cheat emblem was indeed an insurmountable chasm.
After a brief silence, the banquet hall erupted into thunderous applause and cheers.
“Long live the First Seat!”
“Amazing, Miss Livia!”
“As expected of the Stern family’s heir!”
The nobles, having survived the ordeal, cheered Livia’s name excitedly.
Crown Prince Charles Durand also hurried over, his face bearing a suitable expression of concern and lingering fear. He looked at Livia.
“Miss Livia, are you alright? Thank you for your timely intervention.”
His gaze then swept over Allen on the ground like a dead dog, instantly turning into cold disgust.
“This dangerous traitor must be executed immediately as a warning…”
Allen lay on the ground, feeling his life force drain away with his blood, listening to the Crown Prince’s hypocritical concern and cold sentence. It all felt bitterly ironic.
Charles Durand was a highly controversial figure in the original story.
He was ambitious, seeing everyone as pieces, and even his love for the heroine was a sham.
Only at the moment of his death did he realize he had spent his whole life chasing goals set by others, losing all the happiness he could have had.
Thinking of the Crown Prince route’s ending, thinking of the destruction that awaited him and the corrupt system he represented, Allen used his last ounce of strength to lift his head.
He grinned, a blood-drenched, malicious smile on his lips, and shouted in a hoarse voice:
“Charles Durand! You hypocrite! You only ever saw her as a pawn!”
“You think this is the end?”
“You treat everyone as pieces… but whether it’s you or anyone else… you’re all just slaves to fate! I don’t have… your cursed emblem bloodline… I can be free…”
“While you… deserve an eternity of damnation! Hah… Hahaha…”
Struck to the heart by Allen’s words, Charles’s face completely darkened. He didn’t even bother to maintain his last shred of pretense.
Murderous intent blazed in his eyes. He violently drew the sword from his waist, its cold point aimed directly at Allen’s throat.
“You crazy cultist! How dare you spout heresy even at death’s door!”
He put force into his arm, ready to stab down hard.
“Wait!”
Livia suddenly spoke, a hint of urgency in her voice that even she didn’t notice.
She blocked Charles, her clear blue eyes fixed on the barely alive Allen on the floor, a clear flicker of hesitation passing through them.
“Allen de Laval! What did you mean by… the cursed emblem bloodline?”
Both nobles and cultists in this world all desperately sought the power of the emblem.
Yet Allen, alone, held such contemptuous, malicious views of the emblem, the very foundation of nobility.
Allen’s malicious smile now perfectly matched the image of the “Abyss Walker” in Livia’s memories.
What had he gone through? And what did he know?
Allen’s consciousness began to blur, the edges of his vision turning dark with an ominous shade.
He was dying.
‘A dying man speaks the truth?’
No, Allen only felt endless resentment. He resented this fucked-up world, and he resented Livia, the woman who had killed him time and again.
But looking at Livia, kept in the dark and so confident in her own power, he suddenly remembered the deepest, darkest hidden route in the original: the “Demon King Route.”
In that route, Livia, who had pursued power excessively and was consumed by her own emblem, would fall and become a world-destroying Demon King.
Her Star Emblem would no longer be sacred but would become a beacon summoning terrible creatures.
Humanity was almost completely slaughtered by her and her summons.
***
In the ending of the Demon King Route, the surviving humans formed an expedition team.
After an extremely brutal battle, they managed to wound Livia, briefly bringing her back to her senses from her madness.
Realizing the unforgivable atrocities she had committed, Livia destroyed her own emblem with her own hands and died alone in a world of betrayal.
A twisted sense of satisfaction and revenge, like poison ivy, crept into Allen’s heart.
‘Well, next playthrough… I’ll probably have to start over anyway. Then in this playthrough, I’ll leave you with an unforgettable “gift”.’
Allen mustered his last bit of strength to pull out a supremely mocking grin, speaking haltingly:
“The emblem… is not a blessing… it’s actually… the evil god’s…”
Allen’s words stopped abruptly!
Just as he reached the most crucial part, Livia, standing beside him, suddenly moved involuntarily!
Her movement was as fast as lightning, yet carried a strange stiffness and lack of coordination.
She reached out suddenly and snatched the gleaming sword directly from Crown Prince Charles’s hand.
The next second, before the eyes of all—stunned, confused, and incredulous!
The sword, symbol of royal authority, was held tightly in Livia’s hands. With an eerie force, it was driven straight through Allen de Laval’s heart!
Stab!
The dull sound of steel piercing flesh was especially clear in the silent hall.
Allen’s body jerked violently, his final words choked in his throat.
His eyes went wide, staring at Livia’s beautiful face just inches away, full of shock and confusion, feeling the cold and searing pain at his heart.
His lips moved soundlessly.
A final thought flashed through his consciousness as it plunged into eternal darkness:
‘Wait, I was completely talking out of my ass just now… Why are you reacting so violently? Could it be that your cheat… actually has a problem?’
The light in Allen de Laval’s eyes went out completely.
His head fell limply.
The villainous young master, Allen de Laval, had met his 999th death alone.
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