Reincarnated as the Villain’s Father

"Are you ready?"

Rebecca took a deep breath and nodded without looking at me. We were both tense, standing before the massive doors of the dungeon's final boss room.

I pushed the door with my hand, and it opened far too easily, as if someone on the other side had pulled it open rather than me forcing it. The first thing that caught my eye was the rivers of lava flowing from the far upper-left and upper-right corners. They coursed through stone channels that carved their way through the room.

This chamber had been described at length in the novel. Seeing a place you'd once only imagined in vivid text was a surreal feeling.

Despite the room's enormous width, the most striking part was its towering ceiling. Calling this a "room" felt inaccurate,.it could easily house an entire apartment complex. And one with a lava view, no less.

Rebecca remained silent, but when I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, I saw her lightly biting her lower lip. That was her silent signal: "We might seriously be screwed this time." I thought to myself, "Welcome to the party, Rebecca. Finally, you've caught the scent of real danger." But I didn't say it out loud. We were already on edge. any more pressure might've caused us to snap before the boss even appeared.

I took the first step into the room. The crackle of lava was like a death symphony to my ears. With every step, the heat of the stone floor crept up through my boots and into my bones. Even my shoes felt like they were screaming, "Boss, we're burning alive here!"

I looked up at the ceiling or rather, the vast void above that looked more like a hole in the sky. This wasn't a room. This was a monument to divine ego. The boss guy or creature, whatever the hell it was. had built this towering ceiling just to say, "I'm the final boss." You'd expect an angel to descend from the heavens, not a monster to emerge from the floor.

Just then, a faint tremor came from the massive black platform at the center of the room. Crimson sigils began glowing across the floor. It was a scene I recognized all too well. "Here comes the cutscene," I muttered in my head. Then the voice echoed.

A deep, guttural tone, heavy enough to crack stone.

"Who dares challenge me?" He said and after a short silence, he spoke once more with his loud voice "Have you two come to write the final page of your fate?"

Rebecca reached for her staff.

And I shifted my sword on my shoulder, gripping its handle tightly.

I wanted to say, "Nah, man. We're just here to deliver your eviction notice. Time to move out." But I didn't want to ruin the serious mood.

As the sigils glowed brighter, the heat in the room seemed to intensify. My pupils narrowed. Rebecca's breathing beside me quickened; she gripped her staff with both hands. She was in fight mode now, and I wasn't about to interrupt. Verbal encouragement wasn't my style. Especially not with her.

At the center of the platform, right above where the lava channels converged, a figure appeared. At first, just a silhouette. humanoid, cloaked in shadow. But the proportions were... off. Were those horns? Hair? I couldn't tell. But whatever the molten, hulking figure was, it was the owner of that voice.

It took a step. The platform trembled.

"Anyone who enters this chamber," it declared, "must prove themselves. The weak cannot even perceive me."

Each word reverberated through the stone and slammed into my chest. I felt the weight of it but I didn't falter. I stole a glance at Rebecca. She was standing tall.

The figure raised a finger. The lava shrieked in response.

"If you wish to prove yourselves... then meet my children first."

The ground quaked. And one by one, they began to rise from the lava.

The first two were massive. easily three meters tall. Their bodies were pitch-black like tar, with glowing lava coursing through their veins. No eyes. No face. Only heat. And then came the rest. One... two... six... ten...

Rebecca swallowed hard.

"Start counting, Rebecca," I said coldly.

"Twenty-seven... twenty-eight... thirty," she answered, firm and unshaken. 

"God help us"

The lava demons had fully emerged. Hands shaped like blades, tongues of fire, minds empty of reason.

From above, the boss spoke again.

"Thirty children. Survive, and you earn the right to face me. Die... and you were never worthy to begin with."

I gave Rebecca a quick nod. "I'll take the ones on the left."

"I'll clear the right," she replied.

"Watch each other's backs."

No more words needed. I drew my blade. My hands were familiar with its weight ,ready. My body knew what to do. There was nothing to think about. Only slash and slash again.

The first demon lunged at me.

And I lunged right back.

It didn't come at me with sheer weight. it came with heat. The air cracked around us. I sidestepped instinctively, my feet tracing a burst across the stone.

Stellar Line: Slip Point.

I glided like light. Its arm crashed where I had just been, melting the floor to sludge.

This wasn't just power. This was pure incineration. everything they touched burned.

Rebecca didn't scream. She never did. Her warnings came in other forms.

"Sacred Flame: Chain of Fire!" she shouted.

Flames burst from her arm, wrapping around the necks of three demons. followed by a crimson explosion. I staggered back from the shockwave. Lava hissed and roared into the detonation.

But when the smoke cleared...

The demons were still standing.

Not just standing, glowing. Rebecca's flames hadn't hurt them. They'd fueled them.

They had no eyes, but their faces now twisted with rage. Or was it... desire?

Desire for flame.

Rebecca clenched her teeth. "Impossible. That flame should have reduced them to ash. This..."

"- feeds them," I cut in. "Your fire is a feast for them, Rebecca. Fall back!"

But she didn't move. Her eyes shifted.

"No. I can still help you."

A fracture rippled through time. The surrounding air shimmered. A spark flickered across her gaze.

"Time Fracture: Breaking Point."

The world distorted with an echo. Like reality rewound for a few seconds. in Rebecca pov's the demons returned to their earlier stances. Rebecca too but she wasn't reliving the moment. She had learned from it.

She leapt to my side.

"Grand Flame doesn't work. Listen to me, Leonardo. These things feed on energy. Pure fire is just fuel. But..."

"... we can use time against them," I finished her sentence.

Our eyes met. We were synchronized. 

My Stellar Line techniques, combined with her temporal fractures, wouldn't just strike, they would orchestrate. A flawless strategy.

Rebecca raised her staff to the sky.

"I've gained a lot in this dungeon, Leo... but there's something I haven't told you. I unlocked the second ability of the Time Fracture Technique days ago."

As I swung my blade, her words echoed in my head:

"I unlocked the second ability of Time Fracture days ago."

For a moment, I stopped. not my blade, but my breath. My body still fought on reflex, but my mind was elsewhere.

"What?"

It wasn't anger that welled up in me but disappointment. Or at least, that's how I acted.

"You still don't trust me... Is that it? You couldn't rule out the chance I might betray you, so you kept your ace hidden?"

Rebecca didn't even look at me. She couldn't afford to.

"Leo, we'll talk later. Now's not the time."

She was right. So I dropped it, turned to the demon before me.

Rebecca spoke again.

"With my new ability "Temporal Echo" I can sense the intent of creatures like these. Mindless ones. I'll feed you their moves as you fight. You get what I'm saying, right?"

I nodded faintly, eyes locked on the lava demon ahead. But her voice had already imprinted itself deep in my mind.

Temporal Echo. The second ability of Time Fracture. Not seeing the future exactly but sensing possibilities. And with simple-minded foes... that was nearly an absolute advantage.

"So," I said, spinning my blade loosely in my hand, "you'll whisper their moves while I fight. like the rhythm section of an orchestra, silent but essential."

Her voice was firm. "And you'll follow the rhythm, Leo. You're not fighting alone."

Just then, the demon leapt at me. But this time... I was ready.

Rebecca's voice rang in my ear:

"Left arm, coming down from above. Not to crush, to pin."

I swung my sword upward with a trail of stars. 

*CLANG!

Its lava-coated arm met my sword and was knocked aside. not to the floor, but off balance.

I slipped behind it in one motion.

Stellar Line: Twin Slash.

My blade sliced clean through its waist. Molten fluid sprayed but I'd already moved beyond the strike.

Then, without me lifting a finger, a second, mirrored slash struck its opposite side. A delayed echo. My technique's hidden edge.

Rebecca continued:

"Two approaching from your back right. synchronized. One will distract, the other will strike."

"Got it," I muttered. "This is going to be easier than I thought... with you."