Life Of A Nobody - as a Villain-Chapter 475: Rio and the Devil -2

"...So what now? You gonna try and take over my body?" Rio asked, his voice casual—but his nerves taut as wire.

Even as he spoke, his mind reached out, searching for the familiar rhythm of the system's interface. The numbers, the grid, the icons. If this was his mindscape, his domain—then surely he could seize control again.

(My mind. My rules. I should be able to…) The thought came smooth, confident, cocky even. But alas…..the reality.

The entity sensed his actions , and smiled. A slow, lazy curl of shadow where a mouth might be. It radiated contempt—but also... the confidence it had in it's strength.

"And what fun would that be?" it replied, leaning back against the throne like a king toying with a jester.

"Then what's your goal?" Rio questioned, his tone a little bit sour than before.

"Aren't you gonna first ask me who I am?" The entity replied with a chuckle. His voice, cold yet fluid, like oil sizzling on ice.

Rio looked at the ominous figure, comparing it once more with the descriptions written in the novel about Erebus.

The primordial god of darkness. A villain, meant to arrive many arcs later, and shook his head.

But no. This wasn't Erebus.

"Your identity isn't as important as your intent." Rio said coldly, "So let's not waste time. Tell me, _What Do you want?"

Hearing his question, the entity gave an exaggerated shrug, like a disappointed actor forced to explain the script.

"Nothing, really. From you?"

It tilted its head.

"You're barely interesting. Weak. Traumatized. Pretending to be pitiful. Yet acting pathetic."

The being twirled a clawed finger.

"To me your life is as boring as a daily soap. Badly written. Badly played. On Repeat."

"So why would I take over your body, and take part in this _ _ play."

Rio heard the response, yet Instead of anger, he only felt something strange: relief. The kind that came after a near-car crash—you're still shaken, but grateful enough to be alive.

Still, he didn't let it show. His face still had that same calm look, like nothing in this world could phase him.

"Well, if that's your answer, then what are you doing here? In my mind?" He asked. Stating the most important question again..

But unlike before, this time, the entity didn't rush to respond, but just sat there and smiled.

The kind of smile that made you feel like the joke was on you, and you hadn't realized it yet.

The scene made Rio's face turn darker as he seemed to hear him saying _ "Really? Do you really think I'm gonna tell you that? Cute."

(Bastard…) Rio thought in his heart, and changed the question. Moving onto the next most important thing.

"Where's my system?"

"Ohh! you mean this little thing?"

The entity said as he raised one hand lazily and gestured to the side of the throne.

There, near the armrest, embedded in the gold was a cursed jewel, pulsing with a faint blue wave.

Rio's stomach dropped at the unbelievable sight.

What else could it be.. but his system.

The usually overpowered, ancient, and one of the 3 strongest systems ever created. - But it was now trapped there.

Helpless.

Caged. Dimming. And struggling in silence.

Rio forced himself not to flinch. Afraid that if he did, his entire act would collapse instantly.

(He's stronger. … Stronger than I ever expected.)

Rio thought as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And when he opened them again, the fear was once again replaced by calm.

"Let it go." He ordered.

"Why?" The entity replied, waving his fingers over the 'gem' , "Don't tell me you care about it?"

"Just let it go…" Rio started speaking again, but the entity cut him off.

"Nah, I know you."

"You don't give a shit about this AI. You just like it cause it's convenient." The entity spoke. His words making Rio frown. While the system, simply froze and stopped it's struggle for a few seconds.

It's thoughts buried silently in it's own core.

"You showed yourself, which clearly means you're willing to talk to me. So let the system go, and then _ we can chat." Rio said in a stern tone, while the entity just clicked it's tongue, and muttered a simple word.

"Boring."

It snapped it's fingers, and the system's core immediately became bright and free, before disappearing from this darkness.

"There, happy now." The entity spoke.

Rio glanced around in his mind , and after making sure that the connection between him and his system was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Truth be told, against an opponent who could defeat gods and capture the system _ he really had no lies to speak, or no leverage to shift.

All his bravado was simply the front, where he just hoped, _ no, prayed, that his guess would be right.

That the entity, whoever that is, is similar to Erebus. A strong parasite from the past, needing his help to survive.

And looking at how everything went till now, he knew that he was at least a little bit right.

"So, shall we begin, Shiva?" The entity spoke, and at the end of it's words, broke out in a hearty laughter.

Causing the entire dark realm to tremble. And making Rio's mind feel like it had just been burned by fire.

It took Rio all he had, just to grit his teeth and get used to it, without tumbling over and not screaming in pain.

The entity saw his struggles and simply gave up. This host was still way too weak

Seeing that the farce was over and the entity was now finally in silence, Rio finally took a deep breath to gather his bearings.

"Who are you?" He said, between ragged breaths. Finally failing to hold back his doubts about this mysterious man's identity.

There was never any mention about anyone who had such strength and means in the original novel.

No, perhaps one.

But that was the demon lord Ditail.

Who though failed to live a single chapter due to the idiot author ending his novel early. But the hype before he came….

The myths, the legends, the rumors and prophecies – not to mention his 12 overpowered minions who each forced late stage Leon to the brink of death on multiple occasions. — They were all real.

Very real.

But despite these similarities, a voice in his guts was telling Rio, that the man in front of him, _ wasn't Ditail.

"Who are you? And how'd you get into my mind?" He asked again, this time with much more confidence.

"I'm the Devil." The entity spoke.

Darkness swirling in waves as a chilling cold swept through the entire realm.

"Lucifer _ is the devil." Rio answered in confusion.

"No. Little Luci is just a fanboy. A fake."

"A child playing cosplay at the cosmic chair, since I disappeared."

"I," the entity said, while rising from his throne, with arms stretched wide. "...am the original.

"The one and only.

— The Devil."

Rio heard the entire 'monologue' , as the Devil stood up and spread his arms wide to show his superiority. Yet instead of feeling cringe, he only felt fear.

(Because unlike a reader on Earth, curled in bed with a phone in his palms, this wasn't fiction.

This was real.

And right now, he was staring at a figure, whose mere gesture of standing straight caused an illusion as if the clouds churned and cosmos crumpled into chaos. Where every star, every nebula was swallowed by his darkness.)

It didn't just say it was the Devil.

It was.

And for the first time in a long, long while—Rio was actually afraid.

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