Reincarnated as the Villain’s Father

Third-Person POV

"LEONARDO!"

Rebecca fell to her knees. She pressed her face to the ground, but the heat from the lava was so intense it evaporated even her tears. A furious scream tore from her throat. Then came the fire.

Her hands suddenly ignited in brilliant flames. She poured all her mana, her rage, and her pain toward Igrathar.

"You bastard! Give him back to me!"

She hurled every fire spell within her like chains, lashing them out. They pierced the walls of molten rock like crimson lightning and struck Igrathar.

But...

The flames did not harm Igrathar. They returned to where they belonged.

Igrathar's body expanded. He devoured the flames.

Rebecca didn't retreat. Her eyes weren't filled with tears anymore, but with ash. She attacked again. Her burning hands flung more fire, but it was all useless now. Every flame that touched Igrathar glowed across his body like new veins, making him even stronger.

Rebecca stepped forward.

But her legs trembled. She was drained. Not tired, defeated.

Her knees gave out. She collapsed to the ground. Her eyes were still fixed on Igrathar's rising form.

The tears wouldn't stop. She was furious, enraged. Because she could not accept the truth that Leonardo was gone.

"Leo... I..."

She couldn't finish the sentence. In truth, there was no sentence left to say.

Igrathar's body melted into lava and streamed away into the surrounding molten pools. Nothing remained. Not even Leonardo's bones. Only an unwanted silence and a shattered soul.

----

In a realm detached from space, a place where time and physical reality held no meaning, Leonardo or by his soul's true name, Noah. was transported.

He looked around. Above him stretched a blood-red sky. Below, a pitch-black surface.

Had he not known better, he would have thought he was in Limbo.

In this place, forgotten even by time itself, stripped of all reality, Leonardo narrowed his eyes.

The crimson sky hovered above his head, unmoving, threatening. The ground beneath was like the universe's rug of waste. dark, sticky, and carrying a profound sense of emptiness.

He took a single step.

The void beneath his heels quivered slightly. There was no sound, no air. As if even the universe was holding its breath, watching him.

Then, from the ground, Igrathar's body began to take form. The moment his face and full figure materialized, Leonardo dropped to his knees and bowed his head.

"I greet the the exalted one"

Igrathar was surprised. He had planned to introduce himself but this fragile soul before him seemed to already know who he was.

"Do you know who Igrathar is?" he asked.

Without lifting his head, Leonardo replied, "It is an honor for this humble body to recognize Igrathar, high god of hell, and demons."

Igrathar fell silent. The quiet swallowed even the crackling of lava.

His eyes (or what resembled them) glowed like twin volcanoes, fixed on Leonardo.

This was not hollow flattery. It was reverence born of awareness.

And that pleased him.

"A mind that can know even this much... perhaps Igrathar made the right choice in selecting you," he murmured to himself, almost as if touched by contentment.

Still, his metallic voice carried the coldness of a god. Leonardo remained bowed, motionless on his knees.

The god of dark flame asked, "How much do you know about Igrathar?"

Leonardo didn't lift his gaze to the blood-red sky. His eyes remained on the darkness below, and his voice was calm, like an ancient rite.

"From what I know… you are a god born from the ashes of fallen stars. For three stellar years, you reigned as the god of demons. But the 'Superior Ones' feared your power and imprisoned you in a dark dungeon."

There was a slight twitch in Igrathar's expression. Was it satisfaction, or wariness? It was impossible to tell. His soul resembled neither that of a man nor a demon anymore.

But at the mention of the "Superior Ones", his reaction was unmistakable-fury.

Igrathar's form wavered for an instant. A shadow crossed his face, like a whisper of restrained rage. "The Superior Ones," he said.

The word spilled from his mouth like a curse. The void trembled. Not the ground, existence itself shook.

Leonardo didn't flinch. He still hadn't raised his eyes, but his voice was steady, even defiant in its simplicity.

"They punished Igrathar... because they could not understand Igrathar."

Igrathar spoke, a whisper with the force to shatter the starless sky.

"Just because I wrote a destiny they did not create. Igrathar's kingdom was born from their fear. His armies grew from their arrogance. And Igrathar became a truth they wished to forget and erase."

For a moment, Igrathar's eyes sparked, not red, but veering toward black. It was divine wrath in its final form. Silent, but capable of unraveling all it touched.

"They tried to bind Igrathar in chains, like mortals trying to define infinity."

His voice slowed, but the echo continued to reverberate through the void.

"And now, the greatest contradiction they've ever created stands before me."

Leonardo finally lifted his head. His eyes held reverence. And something had begun to burn inside him. A small, steady star. Its spark drawn not from darkness, but from the essence of darkness itself.

"What does the the exalted one ask of me?"

Simple. Direct. No prayers. No fear. Only a will await an offer.

Igrathar opened his palms. The void cracked.

Invisible chains descended from the sky. They were not made of lava, but of words. Oaths. Vows. Curses.

"Igrathar's power will now be passed not through chains, but through will. Leonardo, this weak soul, shall become Igrathar's heir… if he fulfills Igrathar's wish. Igrathar will give you a technique. A seed of rage. It will grow inside you, but will not consume you. if your mind can endure it."

Leonardo rose to his feet.

"What is the technique?"

This time, Igrathar's voice came from within him, resonating through his chest.

"Dark Judgement."

At that moment, the sky split open.

Signs from beyond time carved themselves into Leonardo's skin. Not as drops, but letter by letter, seal by seal. The name of the technique was etched into his forehead like invisible ink.

"This technique pierces the fabric of the seven realms. It can kill even the Superior Ones if mastered. It does not destroy the physical, it shatters essence itself. But in return, I ask for one vow."

Leonardo nodded without hesitation. "The word of the exalted one is my command."

Igrathar closed his palms. The void folded inward, as if a piece of the universe had been torn away.

When his hands opened again, something now hovered between them, the Oath Fragment.

It was not an object. Not a stone, not light, not energy. But it was there. And any mind that saw it felt utterly exposed.

Igrathar spoke. Each word branded itself into Leonardo's very marrow.

"You will take this oath. And Igrathar will bind you. If you betray it, the technique will strangle you from within. If you forget it, your existence will be erased from this universe. But if you remain loyal..."

Leonardo's eyes were no longer just looking. They were absorbing. They understood.

"... Then you will become one of those who writes destiny itself."

Igrathar extended the Oath Fragment. Leonardo reached out without hesitation. The fragment vanished the instant it touched his palm.

Igrathar's voice cut through the void:

"Do you vow to destroy every Superior One in the heavens and on the earth, O lowly soul?"

Leonardo's eyes were clear, not dim. They now gleamed with a will drawn from the heart of darkness.

He didn't swallow. He didn't hesitate. His words fell upon the universe like a seal.

"I vow to destroy every Superior One in heaven and on earth. I will take the exalted one vengeance upon myself."

The void tightened.

It did not feel like a star was being born, but like one was being reborn. Not with light, but with a spark that illuminated the dark itself.

Igrathar narrowed his eyes.

"The oath is sealed. Blood shall undo it only… or by the end."

At that moment, invisible waves pulsed from Leonardo's body. Sparks traveled beneath his skin. A fiery power rose from within his bones.

But this flame did not burn. It gave no light.

It only reminded.

Igrathar spoke once more:

"Go now, O lowly soul. Never forget. This power is not yours. This power is Igrathar's debt. Every breath you take, every step you walk… is now bound to a will that demands repayment. Repay it, and Igrathar's debt shall be closed, forever."

Leonardo bowed his head.

"By the might and glory of the exalted one, I shall repay that debt."