Life Of A Nobody - as a Villain

After spending another month in the dungeon, Amy looked like a wraith, a pale ghost resembling her former self. Her face was gaunt, her cheeks hollowed out, and her eyes were sunken deep into her skull, ringed by dark, bruised circles. Her normally vibrant hair were matted and tangled, filled with dirt-dust, and sweat n blood.

Her lips, cracked and bleeding, were proof of the relentless thirst that gnawed at her. She licked them involuntarily, but the gesture of touch only brought a sting of pain.

Her body was a map of her suffering. Sore muscles ached with every movement, and her throat felt raw and heavy, each swallow a painful ordeal. Her mouth was like a desert, parched and empty, devoid of any moisture. Her armor, once rich and gleaming, was now a patchwork of crude repairs, fixed together with strips of monster hide. Dried blood stained her clothes, leaving a grim reminder of the constant struggle.

Open cuts and scrapes marred her skin, some infected, others simply gaping wounds. A depressing aura clung to her, a palpable sense of exhaustion and despair that seemed to seep from her very pores.

She was walking in the forest, tired and weary when a burnt smell hit her nostrils, making her stomach growl in response. She raised her eyes and saw smoke floating behind the trees, and as she focused, she could even hear the crackling of a fire.

"Is someone there?" She shouted with hope surging in her eyes, and rushed forward, only to see an open campfire and a few pieces of meat grilling on top.

Growl _ her stomach spoke in hunger again, reminding her she really needed something.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice hoarse. "Is anyone here?"

Silence.

Amy cautiously approached, her eyes scanning the clearing. No one was visible. Still, the smell of grilling meat was intoxicating. It wasn't the refined cuisine she was accustomed to – no delicate spices, no fancy seasonings, or an artful presentation. But hunger, the most primal of drives, overruled her usual picky palate.

She sank to the ground, her gaze fixed on the sizzling meat. It looked…unfamiliar. Dark, almost charred, with an almost reptilian texture. But hunger trumped hesitation. She picked up a piece, the bone surprisingly light, and began to chew.

The taste was…odd. Gamey, almost sour, with a slight metallic tang. But to her starving body, it was heaven. Each bite was a victory against the gnawing emptiness in her stomach.

A voice with a low chuckle broke through her reverie. "Giving in so easily, sis?"

Amy jerked her head up, startled. Rio stood a short distance away, an amused glint in his eyes.

"What…?" Amy stammered, confused.

Rio chuckled. "That 'delicious' meal you're enjoying? It's monster meat. Smells like shit, tastes sour, and looks freakish as fuck. But the satisfaction you get with a bite in your stomach? Way better than any five-star meal in those fancy palaces."

Amy stared at the meat in her hand, her jaw dropping. She wasn't holding chopsticks or a knife. She was gnawing on a monster's tailbone, the raw, uncooked flesh still clinging to the bone.

If that wasn't enough, the 'dead' monster slowly turned it's head and looked at her with feared, pitiful and questioning eyes, as if to ask her, why would she do that? Why would she eat him?

The realization hit her with the force of a tidal wave and she dropped the small creature, and crawled back in shock. She had just eaten…a live monster.

(It's not that she hadn't eaten meat before. But eating cooked food, and eating it raw while it's looking into your eyes are two very different things.)

A wave of nausea washed over her, and she coughed out the bite she had just eaten and then started retching. Spewing out the bits and pieces of meat still hung near her throat on the forest floor. While carelessly wiping the blood trails on her teeth and lips with the back of her sleeves.

Tears streamed down her face, along with a mixture of disgust and despair.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" Rio's voice was laced with amusement.

"We humans, we are creatures all about appearances. We take pride in our intelligence, our imagination, our thinking ability,_ but deep down we are no different from animals.. .Our morals are as elastic as rubber. We bend, break, and stretch them however we like. However they suit us." Rio sat down in front of Amy, while passing her a white cloth to clean her mouth. "But when shit hits the fan, and survival is our only necessity. Then_ only then do we sever our hide and show ourselves."

"Just like you're doing now." Rio finished his words with a chilling smile.

Amy wiped the blood from his lips with the cloth and then stared at him, "Who are you?" she asked, taking out her sword and pointing it at him.

She remembered the reality and Apate's magic, so she was sure it wasn't her brother who was speaking. And since it's not him, she had no reason to listen to his nonsense.

Rio didn't make any measures to dodge her attack and let the sword reach his heart. Like he didn't fear death, or her.

Urghh

He grunted in pain and looked Amy in her eyes, "You're so weak. Even knowing I'm a fake. That it's all just an illusion, and yet you still hesitate."

Amy twisted the sword stabbed in his shoulder with glaring eyes, but 'Rio' still remained that smile.

"I was originally going to play the emotional card. Show you how your brother suffered for your foolishness. How he lived here in misery, while you enjoyed the mansions. Drive you to the brink of madness in isolation, and then turn into a wild animal living just for the sake of survival… And keep the guilt trip train running long."

"But seeing as all it took were mere 2 months in this place for you to resort to this… I lost my appetite.(chuckles)"

"Who are you?" Amy asked again, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and rage. The threats of this guy really scared her. Would she really survive if she was forced to go through all that?

"I actually wonder what Gauri saw when she chose you?" Rio mused, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling light. "Such a pathetic display. You're nothing but a waste. Was she that desperate of suffering defeat from my mother, that she picked you, the sister of her champion. Betting on his emotions for victory, or a draw?"

"But then again, that is something a hindu goddess could do? Sentimental fools."

"Apate?" Amy questioned after hearing this arrogant tone that didn't even take a primordial and a whole pantheon of gods in her eyes.

Anger surged in her eyes, but soon got replaced by pain when a dagger plunged into her stomach.

"See? I was in your 'care' for so long? And you couldn't even see a dagger in my hands? God, I feel bad for my mother. Imagine having such a lame rival?" Rio spoke while pulling the sword from his shoulder. The wound instantly healed and not a drop was left visible.

Fog gathered around him and his form started morphing, changing into a more feminine shape. Though Amy couldn't see any appearance past the mist, she could feel the aura of divine superiority suppressing her cells. And the mark of Gauri resisting it's effects automatically.

Amy grunted and pulled the dagger from her stomach, and charged at Apate. Slashing and kicking at her at the same time.

Only to feel a surge of pain in her mind and then fall down on the ground. She looked at her hands which missed the dagger and then at her kicking feet, only to see blood gushing out from down her knees, and the other half sliced clean off.

"Useless." Apate's voice filled with contempt came to Amy's ears. And when she raised her head, she only saw a broken foot enlarging in her vision, until it hit her forehead and knocked her out.

(Yupp, Apate took Amy's dagger, chopped off her feet which she used to kick, and then slapped her with that sliced part. _ all in one swift motion.) Damnn

"You've killed a lot of my minions these past few days. And just cause I don't care about their lives, and I didn't interfere, it doesn't mean you can dance on my doorstep." Apate spoke as she grabbed Amy's hair, pulling her up.

The stinging pain woke Amy up, and she started shaking her head in a struggle to free herself. "What did you say, that you will kill all my followers, end my religion, and then wipe me out.. ME.. Apate.. The goddess of deceit. The spirit of Pandora. The first evil to ever rule the mankind… and you dare threaten me? Who gave you the courage?"

Each word Apate spoke was accompanied by an illusion where Amy felt her body being torn apart, assembled, and then dismembered all over again. It wasn't humanely possible, but that's what she felt like.

"You want to be a godslayer, right? Then let me show you what happens to the mortal fools who forget their place." Apate spoke, her words filled with magic, making Amy's blood surge in sharp currents. Which slashed the veins, arteries, bones, and finally broke free from her skin.

In a matter of moments, every cell of her being was slayed and slaughtered over dozens of times. A pain so immense that it broke her brain swept through her soul. Yet worst of all, she couldn't scream, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe.

She was a puppet, a toy in the hands of a merciless god. And Apate, smiled.

###

Author note - Next chapter is the one where Amy breaks her limits and truly shows her power. And the second meeting between Nyx and Gauri in this novel, who appears to save their darlings, and stop this madness.

...

Side note - As you know Amy suffered (a lot).. So what do you think Rio would do when he learns about this? Right answer wins prize

1) Nothing, cause he knows it's her character development arc.

2) He goes crazy protective big bro mode and starts slaughter.

3) He accepts bribes and looks the other way.

4) He feels down and then have dinner with a beauty and sleeps.