Rebirth of the Villain-Chapter 34: Dream world

The sun was setting, Arthur and Sylrathi’s cart approached what looked like a safe place to stay. The inn ahead seemed perfect—old stone walls, warm light glowing from the windows, and smoke coming from the chimney.

"Finally," Arthur muttered, his fake appearance starting to flicker as he got more tired. "I thought we’d have to sleep outside tonight."

"Out here, that would’ve killed us," Sylrathi said seriously, her eyes carefully watching everything around them. "But something doesn’t feel right about this place."

Arthur’s sharp senses agreed. It was way too quiet—no birds singing, no small animals moving around. Even the shadows seemed to move when they shouldn’t, like they were alive.

[ENERGY LEVELS: 165/500 - VERY LOW]

[DISGUISE FALLING APART: 73% AND GETTING WORSE]

[MAGIC HEALING: 60% BETTER BUT SHAKY]

"We don’t have another option," Arthur said, getting off the cart carefully. His legs almost gave out, and he was thankful when Sylrathi quickly helped steady him. "I can barely keep this disguise up, and we need shelter before it gets dark."

The inn’s wooden sign swayed in the wind: The Wanderer’s Rest - It had been serving travelers for two hundred years, according to the old writing. That should’ve made them feel better.

Instead, every magical instinct Arthur had was warning him.

[DANGER ALERT TURNED ON - USED 5 ENERGY]

[ENERGY LEFT: 160/500]

[FOUND MULTIPLE ENEMIES NEARBY]

The door opened before they could knock, showing a middle-aged man with gray hair and a smile that was way too big.

"Welcome, travelers! Come in from the road. We don’t get many visitors these days, with all the trouble down south."

Arthur’s blood went cold. This man’s heartbeat was wrong—too slow, too controlled, like he wasn’t completely human anymore.

[THREAT FOUND - BIG DANGER]

[WARNING: HEARTBEAT NOT NORMAL - NOT HUMAN]

"Just want a room and hot food," Arthur said, trying to keep acting like a merchant even though his magical energy was going crazy. "The roads have been... tough."

"Oh, I’m sure they have," the innkeeper said, his smile getting bigger to show teeth that were a bit too sharp. "Especially for someone with such an... interesting magical aura. Tell me, have you found those dragon-friends you’re looking for? The ones taken from Stillwater?"

Arthur’s fake appearance broke apart like shattered glass.

He felt his carefully kept disguise fall apart as fear and magical exhaustion took over. His hair went back to its real color, his green eyes blazed with supernatural power, and his real body showed through the merchant clothes.

"I don’t know what you mean," Arthur said, but his voice sounded like a prince, not a trader.

The innkeeper’s eyes changed from brown to an unnatural yellow glow, and the air got colder.

"Of course you don’t," the man said mockingly. "Just like you’re not Prince Arthur Lionheart, and that’s not an ancient elf next to you. We’ve been following your magical trail since you entered our area, Your Highness."

[DISGUISE COMPLETELY FAILED]

[FIGHT MODE SUGGESTED]

[WARNING: NOT ENOUGH ENERGY FOR LONG FIGHT]

"Well, crap," Arthur muttered, then spoke louder. "How long have you been waiting for us?"

"Since yesterday," the innkeeper said, his human look melting away. His skin turned gray, dark veins showed under the surface, and he moved with inhuman speed.

"The Syndicate is very curious about your... special abilities, Prince. Why kill you quickly when we could learn so much by studying you slowly?"

Two more people came out of the shadows—a woman whose shadow moved by itself, and a man with the same yellow glowing eyes. All of them felt wrong, like they’d given up their humanity for unnatural power.

"Three enhanced agents," Sylrathi said quietly, her staff starting to glow with silver light. "This was a trap from the start."

"Obviously," Arthur replied, trying to sound confident when he wasn’t. "Question is whether they’re smart enough to know they’re outmatched."

The woman laughed. "Outmatched? You can barely stand, Prince. Your magic is almost gone, and you’re damaged from using too much power. We’ve been watching your condition for hours."

She was right. Arthur could feel his energy dropping every minute. Keeping his disguise up while traveling had cost him too much. Even just standing up was getting hard.

[COMBAT MODE ON - USED 20 ENERGY]

[ENERGY LEFT: 140/500]

[FASTER REFLEXES: WORKING FOR 15 MINUTES]

"Maybe," Arthur said, letting his power aura flare up despite the energy cost. "But I don’t need full strength to handle corrupted weaklings like you."

The innkeeper hissed with a voice that hurt to hear. "Such arrogance. The Syndicate will enjoy breaking you, piece by piece."

"They can try," Arthur snarled, then attacked.

His enhanced speed carried him forward faster than human eyes could follow, but the innkeeper wasn’t human anymore. Gray skin turned metallic, claws grew from his fingers, and inhuman strength met Arthur’s attack with bone-shaking force.

The impact sent shockwaves through the courtyard, but Arthur kept moving. His supernatural abilities let him read his enemy’s moves through tiny facial expressions and body language. He ducked under a swipe that would’ve cut his head off, then punched the creature in the chest hard enough to crack ribs.

The innkeeper stumbled but didn’t fall. Instead, he smiled, showing rows of needle-sharp teeth.

"Is that all?" he taunted. "The great Prince, reduced to throwing punches like a thug?"

Arthur tried to use his stronger abilities, but his energy was too low. Even basic fighting enhancement was costing more than he could afford.

Blood filled his mouth as the magical strain hurt him inside, and he could feel his supernatural magic starting to turn against his empty system.

The woman moved to attack from the side, dark shadow-stuff swirling around her hands. "Poor little prince. All that power, and not enough energy to use it."

That’s when Sylrathi joined the fight.

She appeared from shadow like death itself, moving with the deadly grace of someone who’d spent centuries learning how to kill.

Her staff blazed with moonlight that burned the corrupted flesh it touched, and ancient words of power poured from her lips in a language older than human civilization.

"Sil’thara neth valdris!" she snarled, and silver fire exploded from her hands.

The nearest agent—the man with yellow eyes—screamed as elf magic consumed him. Not just burned, but completely destroyed, unmaking the corrupted essence that had replaced his humanity and leaving only ash that blew away in the wind.

"You dare threaten him?" Sylrathi’s voice carried the cold fury of winter storms and ancient wars. "Mor’thak sil neth!"

More silver fire shot out, forcing the remaining enemies to scatter. The woman’s shadow-creatures died where the light touched them, and even the enhanced innkeeper backed away, suddenly realizing they faced something far beyond what they could handle.

But it was too late for Arthur. His magical reserves finally hit complete failure, and he collapsed as blood poured from his mouth.

[CRITICAL ENERGY LOSS - 15/500]

[MAGICAL BACKLASH FOUND - NEED HEALING NOW]

[SYSTEM ABOUT TO FAIL]

"Arthur!" Sylrathi caught him as he fell, her beautiful face filled with worry as his consciousness started breaking apart. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was her purple eyes blazing with protective fury as she prepared to fight the remaining agents alone.

---

He found himself in a dream world that felt like a fever dream come to life—not the empty void from before, but a place of red silk and silver starlight that felt more real than reality.

She came from the shadows, and Arthur’s breath caught. The succubus was both magnificent and terrifying—pale skin traced with silver veins that pulsed with ancient power, black hair that moved like liquid shadow. Her body was perfect in the way only supernatural beings could be, curves that promised both pleasure and destruction.

"Arthur Lionheart. Look at you, pretending to be weak while your enemies get stronger every hour."

She circled him like a predator, her presence making the dream world bend around her. "I am what you could become, little prince. Stop wasting time on weakness and feelings. Your kingdom burns while you play merchant, your enemies prepare dimensional gateways while you cling to human limitations."

Her touch sent lightning through his very essence, power that made his previous abilities feel like candle flames compared to the sun. "I won’t let my investment die. But this pathetic show of vulnerability ends now."

Raw power flooded into him—primal, intoxicating, reshaping his magical pathways into something more than human, more than incubus. He felt his core rebuild itself at the most basic level, new abilities awakening like flowers blooming in fast-forward.

[SYSTEM EVOLUTION STARTED]

[PRIMORDIAL LUSTBORN (ENHANCED VERSION) UNLOCKED]

[MAGICAL CORE: COMPLETELY REBUILT]

[NEW ABILITIES READY WHEN YOU WAKE UP]

"Remember this gift when you wake up," she whispered in his ear. "And remember that weakness is a choice. Your enemies certainly aren’t choosing it."

The dream world started to fade, but her final words followed him into darkness: "Make me proud, Arthur Lionheart. Show them what a true Lustborn can do."