Reborn As Villain's
Chapter 48: Arnold vs. Henry Part 2.

A powerful puncture coated by crazy lightning element magic shot out at Arnold who had just turned his head.

Although he managed to dodge, the sting from the lightning managed to hit him. Not only that, even the attack destroyed the ground and created a dust smoke that hurt the eyes.

"Whoops..... I didn't expect..... Such a violent attack was still not enough to subvert a brat like you, huh".

Hendry exhaled after seeing Arnold who had managed to dodge and survive his attack.

"But no matter how strong you are.... You are still an ordinary man..... Little by little.... Tiredness and hurt you receive..... Will take your life".

It was clear in Hendry's eyes that Arnold's body had reached its limit. It was visible from his tired-looking face, sweat pouring out and his irregular breathing. And Arnold returned with a sharp look at Hendry.

"Young, woi..... Don't look at me so angry, because I'm acting like a coward".

"No..... I'm not angry about your actions just now..... Because even in a fight or a battlefield.... Cowards are part of the power".

"Hou.....".

"I can tell by just looking at you..... That you are a genius hiding behind his cowardice is the real you, Hendry-san".

Hearing Arnold's answer impressed Hendry even to the point of smiling. But, that still did not answer the reason why Arnold seemed to be angry with him.

"Heeee.... I see..... Then why do you look so emotional now".

"That's because I don't think..... Why is it that great and genius like you..... Will you throw away your humanity and turn yourself into a Chimera?".

Arnold's question successfully made Hendry surprised not to play even to widen his eyes.

There was silence between the two and the cold and damp place. It was getting colder, and it happened until Hendry reopened his voice.

"How did you know?".

"I'm not that stupid to not realize it".

Arnold then spoke while improving his standing position.

"Since we've been tasked with ambushing you and saving Claudia.... I had expected, at least there are some knights who would definitely hinder us.... And I firmly believe that those knights are the ones who managed to become Chimera...... Damn, my guess is true".

"In short, you have a hunch..... That you'll be dealing with one of the guard knights who's already a Chimera, is that it?".

"Yes like that".

Hendry was very impressed by the premonition and intuition possessed by Arnold who quickly understood about him who had become a Chimera.

"You're great, Al...... Btw, do you want to hear why I decided to take part in this ICA project?".

"Is that a long story?".

"Yes, that's.... But just calm down..... That won't cut our time".

Then the two lowered their weapons, and looked for a stone to sit down for a moment. Later, Hendry began to talk about his past and Arnold heard it carefully.

"We start with a simple question..... Al, how old am I?".

Arnold who heard the question was confused for a moment before he decided to answer the origin.

"So, maybe between 25-30 years old".

Hearing Arnold's reply, Hendry smiled for a moment then he shook his head.

"Wrong".

"Hm?".

"Even though it looks young...... Actually, I'm at the end of 60".

"...... What does this have to do with age and the stories you're gonna tell me?".

Despite being jolted for a moment, Arnold again asked Hendry. With a smile and his mind returned to the past, Hendry began to recount his life experiences.

"As you said..... Before, when I was young.... I am the most talented knight in the Strost Kingdom, even people call me by the call of "genius".... Not just from fighting skills.... I have many achievements in military matters, winning the "God of War" festival"....... And has always been the mainstay knight of the Strost Kingdom...... Any enemy who knows or knows me will run away in fear just by hearing my name called...... At that moment, I felt that I was at the highest peak as a knight..... Even the sense of superiority back then, I can still feel it until now".

Hendry told me while looking at his right palm and his mind that imagined him being respected and respected by many people.

Then somehow he suddenly squeezed his hand out forcefully and went back to continuing his story by showing his emotions.

"But all of it was destroyed 20 years ago..... At the age of 49 years...... As I was enjoying the peak of my glory, suddenly the doctor confronted me with an incurable disease..... Knowing this news, His Majesty Ritcher asked me to retire, not just because of the age factor...... My illness is another reason... But, I begged him to let me stay in the Knight squad..... And as proof that I was still worthy, I decided to rejoin the "God of War" festival"....... I made it to the final very easily..... But...... Then, I was defeated so humiliatingly by a young knight from Rachael Kingdom...... The name of the rancid bastard who defeated me will never be forgotten..... Luke James Asher's".

Hendry again remembered his defeat in the final of the festival "God of War" at the hands of the knight of the Kingdom of Rachael who was the chairman of the 10 holy Knights, namely Luke James Asher.

"I will never forget the look in her eyes that humbled me".

The moment when Hendry fell down and Luke, who was holding a sword while looking at him, reappeared in his memory.

Hendry looked extremely irritated given the embarrassing incident he had experienced back then. After a while, Hendry calmed down and continued his story.

"Looking at how I was defeated, His Majesty remained chuckle at his orders to tell me to retire..... He judged, because of the illness I suffered and my age of almost 50 years that led to my defeat..... However, I did not give up just like that..... I constantly persuaded His Majesty not to retire me...... Until finally, he gave me another chance...... That is, I must lead an army to invade the city of Algrand...... Back then, I was assigned to lead about 400 knights and stand guard outside the city while waiting for the signal from the Thousand Faces".

Hendry again looked emotional.

"After a long wait, the signal was never seen at all.... Not enough to get there, the location where we hid managed to be known by the Knights of Ingrid Kingdom..... And without further ado they ambushed us all..... All the kstaria that were at my command died on the spot..... While I was, again defeated and humiliated again..... This time, by another boy named Rufus Dom Silva".

The moment of the fight between Hendry and Rufus that looks one-sided.

"Not yet there..... I also heard that His Majesty was also captured at that time..... And finally, we were forced to give up and go home with a very embarrassing defeat...... Since I couldn't prove my worthiness, I really felt very broken up..... Your Majesty has lost faith in me..... Everyone who admires me.... Now, it's degrading me..... If only..... This disease does not hinder me..... Then I will become the strongest knight of all time of the Strost Kingdom".

While squinting his back teeth, Hendry continued his story.

"Then when I was down with what I was going through..... Suddenly a messenger came to see me..... He said His Highness Ritcher wanted to "meet" me..... Hearing that, feelings of anxiety began to appear..... And by having to go to see him..... When I came before him, I asked him what he wanted..... Instantly, my misgivings turned into a sense of pleasure".

The memory of his encounter with Ritcher comes to mind. And it made her smile wide.

Hendry began to smile broadly like a madman who stayed one step away, all his wishes had been achieved.

"Hmmm.... You just shut up, Al..... What does my story mean?".

Hendry who felt Arnold was just staring at him silently asked if he was telling too long. It took a moment for Arnold to answer that question.

"Let's know, hear your whole story..... I just don't know what to react to?..... But I can understand how you feel...... It was hard trying to reach the top position.... Just set foot, you should fall back to the bottom...... It was the most painful taste".

"Haha..... I didn't expect you to stay calm like that".

Hendry laughed as he did not expect after seeing Arnold's seemingly calm reaction.

"Yes, that's it,..... You see, I was just a naive kid, who easily believed in everything and always thought positively about everything...... But then everything changed, when I found out that I wasn't the "expected" kid"..... No matter what achievements or achievements I have..... My parents never looked at me.... And all my achievements and achievements will always be claimed to belong to my two brothers, Leonard and Elna..... Receiving such treatment, I finally realized how wrong I was to see this life...... From then on, I decided to live by sorting out what was important to me and throwing away what was not important...... So I can achieve my goals, without losing what is valuable to me..... It is all inseparable from the fact that as humans live, there will be more and more things that become important to them such as friends, love, wealth and so on....... But, I'm trying to cut all those things....... Don't need this, throw that one away...... And as I remove all the things that are important to me..... I'm aware of some things I'll never be able to let go of".

Instantly the faces of fellow 1-S class, Frey, Alex, Leon, Claudia, even Lafia came to Arnold's mind. Then he stood up again from his seat and clasped his Siden sword.

"I live only for such a thing..... No matter the risk..... But, even so..... Listen to your stories that justify all means to return to be the strongest...... And blame others for your own failures..... Even with his tenants slaughtering innocent people for no apparent reason........Even if a little......... You're..... Really do....... Makes me sick".

Arnold said in a tone full of emotion and a terrifying aura while pointing his sword at Hendry.

"Hmmm..... So, in the end..... We won't understand each other, yeah".

Hendry immediately stood up again while holding his spear. And now both are ready to continue the pending fight.

(--------------------)

The two began to re-attach the fighting horses. Their eyes focused on each other and stared at the opponent in front. A cold and quiet atmosphere was between the two.

Only the sound of a waterfall that continues to flow so fast and beautifully while being illuminated by soft moonlight through the darkness of the night and the depths of the cave.

The two began to breathe and exhale in the same moment.

Not long after, the second figure suddenly disappeared and left only the flying dust.

The sound of 2 weapons colliding with each other at high speed to create sparks every time they intersect break the silence in the cave.

The clash between Arnold and the sword of Siden and Hendry with his axe spear happened so fast, strong, hard and intense than ever before. A face that indicates that one of the two is not willing to give up.

Then when Arnold lunged forward, Hendry suddenly aimed his spear at the rocks and destroyed them.

The surprised Arnold had no other choice but to jump back. But that alone is not enough.

Because the rock fragments destroyed by Hendry even shot towards him. That's why Arnold should avoid it as much as possible.

Successfully avoiding the flying rocks, Arnold was confused because he did not see the figure of Hendry. And he soon realized something.

(He used a rock fragment to make me lose focus on him).

After muttering like that, Arnold felt that there was someone currently flying over him. As soon as he looked up, there he saw the figure of Hendry who was preparing to throw his axe spear towards Arnold.

(He made use of moonlight that is not too conspicuous in the cave and will not cause shadows..... Then attack my blind spot).

"We're starting, Al!!!".

Using both hands in order to increase his swinging power, Hendry brutally attacked Arnold below him.

"Bloody Spear: Lighting Smasher Of Netherworld!!!".

A strong, fast and hard swing attack vertically immediately charged towards Arnold. And when the attack reached the ground, a powerful explosion immediately appeared and was followed by lightning that stung everywhere.

Hendry smiled in satisfaction as he saw his attack succeed.

"Haha..... Look, Al..... This is the power of yang----- Eh?".

Not yet able to finish his words, suddenly appeared splashes of blood that turned out to come from his body Hendry who could somehow be hit by a slash.

"Ugh".

The force of the attack made, Hendry sat down while feeling the pain. Not long after, behind the flying dust appeared the figure of Arnold who actually managed to avoid the attack earlier.

But, he could also counterattack along with him dodging Hendry's attack just now.

"Siden Sword Technique: Absolute Hard Swing".

Then Arnold mentioned the name of the technique he used to counter-attack Hendry. Actually, what's going on?

Before Hendry's attack reached him, Arnold swiftly managed to jump dodging the attack, and in a short pause of time, he saw a gap between the momentum before Hendry's spear hit the ground.

Utilizing that extremely fast gap, Arnold without the slightest hesitation directly slashed at him while leaping backwards.

Because Hendry was still focused on his attack, he did not realize that Arnold had attacked him.

"The technique you just used........ Did you slash my vital point, earlier?".

While enduring the pain, Hendry asked Arnold about his attack.

"I didn't see it, I just predicted it..... All of that is based on thinking habits, almost always the same attack pattern, muscle quantity and quality, accuracy and manipulation of power both siji and physical..... Or something like that..... I analyze, process and store it in my brain".

Arnold said as he pointed to his own head. Then, Arnold again improved his fighting position and stared intently at Hendry who was sitting in pain.

"Then, Hendry-san...... Get prepared..... Because i'm..... Will start to strike back".

Hearing Arnold's words that seemed to intimidate him. Making Hendry again remembered, the two figures of Luke and Rufus who had also seen himself with a gaze like Arnold now.

Gaining that fact, Hendry began to squeak his back teeth as the attack unleashed his fury.

"Buckoo.... Why do you look like them".