I Became The Novel's Biggest Antagonist

Lunevy's massive wings of fire folded around her defensively, forming a blazing shield. The moment the bullet struck, an immense force exploded outward, sending her hurtling backward at incredible speed.

-CRASH!

-BOOM!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Her body smashed through several buildings under construction, reducing them to rubble as she continued to be pushed along by the gravitational bullet, which showed no sign of stopping.

"No… No!!" Ophelia, her hands still trembling from treating Stephen's wounds, surged to her feet. Her gaze snapped toward Lunevy as she sprinted forward.

"Are you kidding me…?" Julius muttered under his breath, his voice strained with disbelief. His body quivered, an involuntary reaction to the fear gripping him.

"Even Miss Luna-Evelyn…" Luke's voice was trembling with disbelief.

"Damn my luck," Julius cursed as he stepped forward, his teeth clenched tightly. His eyes turned toward Isaac, and a realization settled over him. It was his turn now.

He couldn't run.

Whether for the sake of the others to escape or for Lunevy to return, he had to buy time. That was his role—a member of the World Order, sworn to protect.

"Monsters. One after another…" Julius gritted his teeth, muttering under his breath. First Krainel Salvador, and now this man—another walking calamity whose power felt equally overwhelming.

"W–Wait, sir!" Agatha called after him in worry.

"Run," Julius said without turning back, gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly his knuckles whitened. Sweat trickled down his face, but he ignored it. "I'll try to hold him off."

Ahead of him, Isaac turned his gaze toward Julius, his expression turning bored.

The soft click of Isaac's revolver echoed as he ejected an empty bullet casing. The metallic shell dissolved into particles mid-air, vanishing as though erased from existence.

"Don't waste my time." Isaac asked, his voice edged with irritation."I despise wasting my time as much as peasants rising their weapons against their King."

Julius took a shaky breath, his trembling hands tightening around his sword. "It's not like I have a choice," he replied with a nervous laugh before glaring at Isaac. "It's my duty to stop you."

His words were bold, but inwardly, he cursed his fear—the way his hands wouldn't stop shaking, the way every instinct screamed at him to run.

To his surprise, Isaac's expression softened into a small, nostalgic smile.

"Loyal to your duty, huh?" Isaac said, his voice tinged with something deeper. "I can relate to that feeling. Duty… it's both a burden and a gift. It weighs you down but gives you a reason to stand. A purpose. Something that keeps you alive."

The sincerity in Isaac's tone sent a chill through Julius. He stared at the man before him, his fear somehow deepening. That smile—so wistful, so genuine—was utterly out of place in the midst of what he had done. And yet, Julius couldn't help but feel the truth in Isaac's words.

"But that's the point, isn't it?" Isaac continued. "For that single purpose, you have to be ready to sacrifice everything. To face anything. Even if it means walking into hell itself."

He took a step closer, his revolver hanging loosely at his side.

"At the end of it all," Isaac sighed softly. "When you take your final breath, if you've upheld your principles—if you've stayed true to them no matter what—you can smile. You can face hell with your head high."

Isaac's expression abruptly darkened, his fingers tightening around the grip of his revolver. His once-calm demeanor shifted, shadows flickering across his face.

"But imagine…At the moment you walk into hell with your head held high, ready to accept your fate, what if you were pulled away? Ripped back among the living, into an unfamiliar, alien world? What are you supposed to hold onto then?"

The question lingered in the silence.

Julius stood frozen. He had no idea what Isaac was talking about, nor did he want to know.

Isaac let out a dry scoff beneath his faint smile, his eyes distant. "I suppose I should be grateful to 'them.' After all, they gave me a purpose. Something to cling to, even now."

He shifted his stance slightly, his gaze flicking to his left.

A small, flaming speck in the distance was growing larger, hurtling toward him with incredible speed. Isaac's expression didn't waver as he watched it approach.

It was Lunevy.

Blood streaked down her forehead, her face pale and strained, but her eyes burned even stronger as she closed onto him.

"You survived this," Isaac muttered, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "The Empire could have used people like you."

And then—

-BOOM!

Lunevy slammed into him and flames consumed Isaac's figure as though swallowing him whole, their intensity forcing a deafening shockwave to ripple through the air.

Julius instinctively moved to shield Irisdina and the others, bracing against the sheer force of the blast. Dust and heat swirled around them, choking the battlefield in chaos.

"Did she get him?!" Irisdina voiced the question trembling in everyone's minds.

Without hesitation, Julius swung his sword, the blade slicing through the heavy veil of dust.

As the air cleared, a single figure came into view—Lunevy.

She was kneeling, her breaths ragged and labored. Her body trembled as she clutched at her sides, utterly spent. Her gaze had dimmed of its intensity, her face ghostly pale, drained of all mana.

In front of her, the ground was scorched and obliterated, but Isaac was nowhere to be seen. Not a trace remained.

"She won…" Agatha murmured, disbelief and relief mingling in her voice as a faint smile touched her lips.

"Yeah… there's no way anyone could've survived that," Luke added, nodding. His expression softened in relief.

"She did it! She won, Irisdina!" Agatha said again cheering.

But Irisdina didn't join in the celebration. Her expression was complicated, her brows furrowed as she watched Lunevy clutch the ground, her fingers digging into the scorched earth.

Julius clenched his teeth as well, biting down hard on his lip, his hands trembling.

Nearby, Ophelia knelt silently beside Stephen's unconscious body, tears streaming down her face in quiet grief.

The realization hit Agatha and Luke all at once.

This wasn't a victory.

It wasn't just Isaac who had been lost.

It was Adam.

He was dead— Experience new tales on empire

-Thud!

The sound of rubble shifting echoed across the battlefield, snapping everyone's attention toward its source.

Their gazes locked on a large, spherical object jutting out from the ground amidst the debris.

"T–This…!" Ophelia's eyes widened in recognition, her voice trembling. She knew this object—she had seen it before. It was the same device that had shielded her from Krainel Salvador's deadly blow.

It was one of Adam's creations.

Lunevy, her legs quaking beneath her, forced herself upright. She stared intently at the sphere as its metallic surface hissed and groaned, the door creaking open.

From within, a figure emerged, kicking the door lightly to swing it fully open.

Adam.

His lab coat was caked in dust, his white hair even more disheveled than usual. With a nimble leap, he stepped out of the device, brushing the dirt from his coat with a casual air. Without hesitation, he pulled a syringe from his bag and plunged it into his own arm.

The 'Switch' had taken a toll on him, far more than it would on anyone else. After all, he was the weakest of 'them'.

"What a drag…" Adam muttered, flexing his fingers as the injection steadied his control over his body. Tossing the syringe aside, he glanced around at the devastated landscape.

His hazel eyes surveyed the destruction with a hint of annoyance. "This mess... He really did a number on this place. People should respect the hard work of others."

Eventually, his gaze settled on the group before him. Their faces, frozen in shock and disbelief, stared back at him with mouths agape.

His eyes moved to Lunevy. Her trembling lips and battered state drew a grimace to his face.

"I told you to take care of your body," Adam said with a scolding tone. "It hasn't even been an hour."

Lunevy silently dragged herself toward him. Her gait was awkward, her body visibly strained. When she finally reached him, she collapsed forward.

Caught off guard, Adam instinctively reached out to steady her, his hands gripping her shoulders. But the sudden weight sent him toppling backward, Lunevy landing atop him.

As he hit the ground with a grunt, it became clear—Adam was far from physically strong.

He craned his neck to look at Julius, his expression dead serious. "Help me."

Julius, still dumbfounded by Adam's sudden return, couldn't suppress a wide, genuine smile. Scratching the back of his head, he let out a laugh.

"Look at you, Adam. Maybe you should work on muscling up a bit. Can't even hold up a woman?"

"I was caught off guard. It was a momentary lapse in balance—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Julius interrupted, still grinning as he stepped forward to lend a hand.

Adam managed to raise while holding Lunevy's body.