The Villain’s Cheat Code: When a Gamer Becomes the Evil God’s Sidekick

Claudia's eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed at Emperor Aubrey.

Her body tilted back slightly, as if attempting to retreat.

However...

At the very moment she made the slightest movement,

A force that tore through the air split the space apart. The sharp thrust caused the air to whistle loudly.

Even though she wore a mask, she could still feel the fierce wind rushing toward her face.

Claudia quickly turned her head.

On the ground, an ordinary spear had already pierced deeply into the earth.

Half of the spear's shaft was embedded into the ground, with dozens of cracks spreading outward, gradually extending in all directions like a set of fangs biting into the earth.

The massive fissures even burrowed several feet deep into the ground.

The largest crack, jagged and uneven, stretched from the spear's shaft all the way to Aubrey's feet.

How far was that distance?

She hadn't even seen it clearly.

Did Aubrey... move?

The emperor slowly stepped forward, walking to the palace wall. Once again, he picked up a spear.

He casually held the spear behind his back, his cloudy eyes quietly fixed on Claudia. Yet, within those eyes, like a predator locking onto its prey, exploded a powerful pressure that made Claudia feel an even more terrifying oppression.

She was one of the top hunters in the organization, yet under the emperor's gaze, her hair stood on end, and cold sweat trickled down the back of her neck.

"Don't move."

It was as if she were pinned under the claws of a giant beast, utterly powerless. Her limbs began to tremble slightly, and the fear in her eyes gradually magnified.

"I don't want to see the filthy blood of a hunter staining the ground."

"So, don't move."

Claudia's face turned pale as she stared at Aubrey, utterly silent.

Finally, as though realizing some harsh reality, she suddenly laughed.

"Heh... hahaha."

The oppressive aura that had been weighing on her seemed to be pushed away by her laughter.

With an air of indifference, she spoke to Aubrey:

"Aubrey, if my blood is filthy, then... what are you?"

"Do you think yourself noble?"

As she spoke, Claudia gently placed her hand on the mask covering her face and tore it off, revealing a young and beautiful visage.

But on the other half of her exquisite features was a mysterious black-and-red mark that extended all the way behind her ear.

One of her eyes turned blood-red, as if a stream of blood flowed within it, with the veins around her eye converging toward the center.

Claudia laughed and pointed to the marked side of her face:

"Don't forget this."

"Courtesy of you."

She put the mask back on and turned her head, speaking in a calm and gentle voice to Viktor:

"Sorry if I scared you."

"No problem," Viktor shrugged, hands in his pockets.

Leaning against the wall, he appeared indifferent.

Claudia Stock.

In the background lore, she was the last surviving female of the Stock family in the empire.

After Claudia became empress, her family should have risen to prominence.

However, the family was unexpectedly wiped out entirely.

Only Claudia remained as the sole survivor of the bloodline.

The reason? It was because of the empress herself.

After becoming empress, Claudia spent over a decade gathering evidence and ultimately betrayed her family.

Colluding with external forces, amassing wealth within the empire—these were the charges laid against them.

In the end, with Empress Claudia's assistance, Aubrey completely swallowed the Stock family.

Many players speculated that Claudia did this out of a deep love for Aubrey, to the extent of betraying her own family.

But in truth, the game never depicted any emotional interaction between the nominal empress and Aubrey.

Because, even when Aubrey died, this empress never appeared.

Players encountered her only at the headquarters of the hunters.

She was one of the seven key leaders of the hunter organization.

If not for later storylines revealing Claudia's identity as the imperial empress, no one would have known this fact.

And at this moment, Viktor happened to witness this scene, a royal secret of sorts.

Naturally, he savored the drama.

He even felt grateful to Kevla for providing him with such a clue.

Allowing him to witness such a spectacle.

After putting her mask back on, Claudia's emotions seemed to calm slightly.

"Alright, Aubrey, what will you choose next?"

"Will you kill me directly? Or, as before, keep me imprisoned?"

The ferocious aura around Aubrey gradually faded into cold indifference, like an abyss stretching endlessly.

Yet the oppressive feeling remained, carrying a biting chill that seemed capable of freezing one's soul. His voice was chillingly cold:

"Claudia, you should know why."

"Of course I know. It's because of that woman."

Claudia shrugged, as if resigned to her fate, showing no trace of fear under the icy air.

"How laughable that you loved so deeply, only to end up with nothing, Aubrey."

Whoosh!

The spear turned into a streak of white light, piercing through the space once again. The sharp impact rushed forward, embedding heavily into the surrounding ground.

The terrifying force caused even more severe cracks. The surrounding earth sank significantly, and the massive palace trembled along with it.

What horrifying power.

And this was merely a casual strike from Aubrey.

Claudia gave it such an evaluation.

But...

"Futile rage."

"If you tilted it just slightly, you could've pierced through my body."

"But I don't believe it's because you've gone soft."

Claudia looked at the cold-faced Aubrey in front of her and chuckled faintly:

"You never loved me. Never."

As her words fell, Claudia struggled to pull the spear embedded in the ground out.

Gripping it tightly, she looked back at Aubrey with a defiant gaze.

Then, she reversed the spear in her hands and pointed it at her own body.

Squelch—

The silver spear of cold iron pierced through Claudia's flesh and blood.

Bright red blood gushed out violently, spreading across the ground.

Among the blood, there seemed to be traces of black patterns, eerie and mysterious.

But neither Viktor nor Aubrey moved to stop her.

They simply stood still, watching Claudia's self-destructive act.

Silently, they watched as Claudia took her own life.

In the end, Claudia's body lay upon the ground.

Her body and blood began to merge, intertwining as if becoming one.

The crimson blood gradually solidified, seeping into the cracks in the ground and disappearing.

"She's gone."

Aubrey gazed at the bloodstains that had vanished before him and spoke calmly.

Yet his voice sounded far older than before.

"It seems you're not in a good mood, Your Majesty."

"Care to talk about it?"

Aubrey glanced at Viktor, then turned and walked toward the royal passage.

Viktor followed closely behind, quietly listening as Aubrey's voice echoed once more:

"Claudia Stock, my first wife, back when I had yet to ascend the throne..."

It was a politically necessary marriage. At the time, the Stock family had not yet fallen and was considered a prestigious and noble lineage.

The former emperor arranged a marriage for Aubrey, pairing him with Claudia.

Only through this union could he inherit the throne.

After Aubrey ascended the throne, Claudia bore him two sons.

The eldest prince, Albanie, and the second prince, Owiser.

Initially, Aubrey's life as emperor was quite comfortable.

Eating, sleeping, training, and confiscating estates.

But this peaceful life lasted only until the Kingdom of Kant came forward to offer goodwill.

The Duke of Kant sought an audience with Aubrey and proposed marrying his daughter to the emperor.

And at the moment Aubrey saw her, he froze.

Because...

"She was my true love."

Although Aubrey was powerful enough to slay dragons single-handedly at seventeen,

He wasn't yet strong enough to dominate the world.

During a war, he encountered that girl from a neighboring country.

They fell in love.

He had never felt such affection for anyone.

But as the heir to the empire, he couldn't choose his own marriage.

Let alone with someone from another nation.

So he missed out on that youthful love.

Fifteen years later.

Now in his thirties, Aubrey met her again, this time in his own country.

She was the Duke of Kant's daughter, who had remained unmarried, waiting for him all these years.

And this time, as emperor, Aubrey had the power to make his own decisions.

That year, Aubrey truly experienced the taste of love.

Until...

"I saw it with my own eyes—Claudia killed her."

"When I reached out to hold her, I could only cradle the child bathed in blood from her lifeless body."

At this moment, Viktor heard it.

Aubrey's voice was filled with a sorrow long buried.@@novelbin@@

"Aurelianne was born amidst her mother's corpse, absurd and tragic."

...

Claudia had left the palace, escaping beyond the capital.

Her body trembled, and blood flowed from her chest.

In her final moments, she used the hunters' blood magic, escaping at the cost of self-inflicted harm.

Aubrey had grown stronger.

But Claudia wasn't surprised.

From the moment she met Aubrey, he seemed to have no limits, always growing stronger.

She collapsed onto the grass, pulling out a small bottle of faint red potion from her waist and drinking it slowly.

Discarding the bottle, she breathed weakly, feeling the warmth spread through her body.

Life was slowly returning.

However, the recovery was far too slow.

In her daze, she heard a flapping sound in the air.

Claudia quickly became alert, propping herself up with her hands, trying to stand.

When the sound of wings stopped, she finally saw the figure in the darkness.

She sighed in relief:

"Just a crow."

The black figure stood on the grass, carefully preening its feathers, showing no fear of humans.

Claudia paid it no mind, leaning weakly against a rock and gazing at the starry sky.

Wait, a crow?

Zzz—

Suddenly, a static-like noise began to echo in her ears, sharp and piercing.

The starlight vanished instantly, and the surroundings plunged into darkness.

Claudia's body froze.

What... was happening?

Before she could react, a playful voice emerged from the darkness, filled with endless mockery, dragging her into the abyss:

"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."

"Someone asked me to catch you. Why don't you cooperate a little?"