Villain Transmigration: Author Transformation

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All that Athan heard was loud explosions and a myriad of roars and screams that crashed his ears, enough to deafen him so badly.

Upon opening his eyes, it became a nightmare he couldn't wake up.

In the bloody red patches in the sky, now filled dark smears from the pillars of smoke, and the creatures flew, roaring and battling amidst the heights until their very last breaths.

Alongside it found several infrastructures and towering edifices showing cracks before it collapsed to the craggy path, trembling the ground no different from high magnitudes and aftershocks came with it.

Even every single asset therein costs a thousand riches, but now fell, tainted with the blood of the deceased.

The ground he stood filled with fallen comrades and enemies one after another, staining with rancid death.

Athan stood, almost on the verge of despair, as everything he held dear crumbled, one after another, before his eyes.

Right now, the Imperial Capital Region was now set on fire, with enemies from the foreign countries setting their eyes on it.

With the Northern Territory easily occupied in the first place, from there, it became a domino effect.

One by one, every major piece at his advantage went down the drain as the flames of war progressed. 

The disaster continued to spread throughout the Eastern Territory, and now slowly consumed a fraction from the Southern Territory.

Athan did whatever he could with all his power, but with everything happening in front of him, it seemed as though it wasn't enough.

So many lives were lost and sacrificed for naught, in the name of war. 

Most of the territory was now compromised, and more constraints went on to build up within the remaining power of the Dysnomia Empire as the pressure continued.

'How… Did it... Come to this—?'

However, he cut off his thoughts right away as soon as a sudden blast came about several feet away from him; despite covering himself, it blinded and deafened him again with flying dirt and smoke after the bombing explosion. 

"Your Highness!" 

Athan snapped his head towards the direction of Sylvester's call. He donned a light-plating armor by the vest, greaves, and braces on top of his blood-stained regal tunic and trousers. 

But the sudden appearance of the Grand Duke of Salvatore enraged him, for the most part. 

He could no longer clench his teeth as he roared at him, "Why are you here?!"

Although, seeing how his averted gaze alongside his grim countenance, yet another bad news delivered to him.

"Ustrador successfully captured the Braewood Keep, we had to rally the remaining forces to the Imperial Capital, as you've suggested."

One of the major key points of their capture turned out successful.

Now, Athan was at a loss of words, as he gaped at the notion Sylvester's castle, his only home, and one he invested so much for his best friend fell into the hands of the enemy.

An enemy hailing from a weak country no less.

Behind him were his army, the strongest legion of Sylvester, but with their condition— most soldiers limped and trudged their movements as their bodies embraced several roles of bandages, it broke his heart seeing the utter loss of their power.

He became too livid, with his eyes searing to a blurry vision.

Another round of explosions came from the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, as where they were now, and he heard the deathly screams and cries of the soldiers that fought with all their might against the enemies, attacking all sides.

"Your Highness, we need to retreat now!"

Leaving him no choice, he turned his back on what seemed the unsalvageable scene he was in and ran to the next post he needed to protect.

So many times this happened, but it hurt him every time he got to witness this over and over again, thinking of what else he could've done, even at this point in his life.

However, there was another battalion charging at him— the array of towering alpine gorillas with a flag of a familiar symbol and color waving— of what seemed like the army from the Aubrador Kingdom, from the far northeastern region.

But he was rather pissed off as he drew his sword, blazing in blood-red flames, and struck the ground into a fissure that welcomed the depths of hell.

The ground trembled, revealing boiling lava and toxic fumes that lit up to pillars of flames, and consumed more than half of them; reaching out further turned out enough to block their advances.

They went to a halt, unsure of their next move and terrified of what doom awaited them. But Athan took this opportunity, commanded them to rally to the next point of their planned course of action.

'Damn, is there no end to this?! I've already had to face about five different sovereigns in this direction!' He gritted his teeth with the thought of their foolish actions. 'They want to grab a slice of this pie? Not on my watch!'

He couldn't help but look back for one last time before the strategic retreat he had.

'I'll avenge my brethren— Everything is still far from over, and I'll be the one to have the last laugh…'

On their way, upon taking a detour, his enemies soon tracked their movements and even dared to surround him. 

Despite already being tired and weary, the adrenaline rushed into him for quite some time now, and still fought his way from their onslaught.

"There's no end to this, Your Grace!" Sylvester leaned his back against Athan, muttering breathlessly, "His Majesty is waiting for you! You must go!"

"What about you—?!"

"I'm fine— I'll hold the line—!"

In an outburst, Athan smacked his head as he bellowed, "Fool! You want to sacrifice yourself?!"

"This is the only way…" Nevertheless, Sylvester managed to smile from his cut, chapped lips, huffing his breath, "We all would've never gotten this far without your utmost support."

Athan noticed the remaining army of Sylvester, and they all nodded in unison with their eyes lit aflame with determination, to fight one last time.

Which then had several veins popped from Athan's neck and forehead.

"No! We'll get through this—"

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

'What?! Who would send rein—?!' He got taken aback, with a sultry voice ringing to his left ear. 

Only to snap into that direction, now covered the blood-red sky with giant waves, about to crash in his direction.