Reincarnated and Regressed Villain - Make heroines beg for forgiveness

Two months later,

Inside a forest on the borders of a small kingdom's town, two figures stood: a woman with a white full-face mask and a man with a half-black mask, their eyes meeting.

"Esme," the young man whispered, his knuckles brushing the woman's jawline as he reached for a hair strand before tucking it behind her ear.

"Y-yes?" she responded, her voice quivering as she tilted her head delicately in her palms.

"Why not remove these hindrances, preventing me from savoring those petals of yours?" the man asked, his finger reaching to the corner of her mask as he gazed warmly into her golden pupils.

"N-no, not before marriage," the woman replied, gripping his hand and reciprocating his warmth with her eyes.

.....

[Host, How do you manage to stay focused with that shit going in front of you?]

The system's voice, though robotic, conveyed frustration as it observed the ongoing illusion for a month now.

'Leave her, it's not like she could master it,' Ryuk remarked, sitting with crossed legs on a stone, deep in thought while watching the drama unfold.

Snap

"Sigh, it's still not perfect," Esme snapped, frustrated at her inability to perfectly replicate the young man's image.

There were always lingering imperfections, like energy signatures and the eyes. She couldn't quite capture the way it felt with the real thing.

"I already told you, you cannot copy my energy," Ryuk called out, slowly closing his eyes and assuming a lotus position after finally mastering all the techniques demonstrated by Esme.

During these 61 days, he realized two major things:

First, even without activating his Devereaux bloodline, which the system could synthesize anytime, his intelligence remained the same.

This proved that the bloodline was a catalyst, not the reactant itself.

Second, whoever that grandpa was, he couldn't be less than a LEGENDARY warrior.

This meant that, despite having mastered only half of the postures, he already understood the points to increase his strength stats.

Typically, unlike lower levels where physical workouts could boost strength, he already possessed trillions of tons of strength.

To better understand this, his full-force punch might not split the continent due to the Blue Star's crust being far more resilient than his world's planet.

Even there, such a punch would only cause catastrophe-level destruction but could never split the continent in half.

Let alone the Blue Star, whose density was much higher, if he were to leave Heindal, which had lower land density due to a lack of mana, no continent would break in half just from a mere punch, regardless of his level.

It can indeed cause earthquakes, shockwaves, and crumble down all architecture, or even plummet the ground, but land masses called continents are reinforced by a planet's crust, accompanied by surrounding mana, making them even harder.

Therefore, achieving maximum output can only be done through techniques.

This applies to the physical body as well. Even if he could harden his body further, increase the density of bones and the strength of muscular fibers, without balance between each point, he would never achieve the desired strength.

The brain sets restrictions on various points in the body to protect from damage, but certain activities can loosen those caps, gradually increasing the limits of strength in those areas.

Currently, the thesis provided combinations of postures aimed at loosening those particular areas.

While he may not break through his strength stats immediately, a little push would be sufficient now.

So, now he needed a real battle with someone stronger in physical strength than him.

In conclusion, he has the canal prepared, he just needs water in it.

"Hey, can't you at least tell me why I can't copy your energy?" Esme approached, taking a seat beside him, folding her legs while resting chin on her knuckles with elbow supported by her thighs.

"I use Ether instead of mana," Ryuk replied, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?!" Esme's eyes widened, leaning back as she looked at him for some time before realizing she indeed couldn't copy the density of energy.

Unbeknownst to her, even with the Ether, due to his Ether core being in the third circle, the density was still only on the level of naturally used Ether in battleships.

Because his full concentration was solely on increasing ranks and due to him being in coma for five years, his Ether core was still far away from reaching the fourth circle.

Energy stats only measured the amount of energy, not the density or purity — which is the main cause of better output, not the amount.

"Now I see, that's why, hm," Esme said, placing her finger on the edge of her mask as she contemplated. She then turned towards him again and added, "But why can't I copy your eyes?"

"Huh? What eyes? Isn't it just orange?" Ryuk replied, with a slight twitch as he looked at Esme.

"No, no, it's somewhat different," Esme shook her head, once again falling into deep thought.

[Host, is it because of your race?]

Ryuk blankly looked in front of him, not having much to say about this. Since he couldn't even see his own race, thinking about it would be futile right now. At least he was full-time human.

"Finally! Big bro, I brought this piece of shit," Mae approached both of them while beside her, Sam was walking with the support of a stick, his broken leg wrapped in bandages.

"Are you fine?" Ryuk observed Sam's state, which was definitely not something appreciable.

"..." Sam just looked at him.

[Host, he definitely cursed you.]

"It's good to hear," Ryuk said with a smile as he stood from his place, approaching both of them, while reminding, "Now, Mae, tell me the location of the nearest Flagbearer you could predict."

Ryuk stood with his arms folded, while Esme remained seated.

Smack

"Fine, come on, brother, let's earn some money," Mae exclaimed, giving Sam a good slap on the back, causing him to stumble forward with eyes filled only with agony and suffering towards the man.

Balancing himself, Sam turned towards Mae, who was standing for a high-five, both of her gloved palms visible. Slowly raising his hand while being supported by the stick, his eyes blinked with tears visible.

SWOOSH

Instantly, a thin circle formed around both of their bodies, revolving rapidly before halting.

"Done!" Mae turned towards Ryuk, with her hand placed on her waist, finally knowing the location of the next Flagbearer.

"Where is he or she?" Ryuk inquired.

"He is in Malevolia!" Mae informed, her eyes gleaming with visible gold coins, showing her obsession. She then turned towards Esme, saying, "Big sis, I'm not that greedy!"

She retaliated, understanding that the illusion of gold coins in her eyes was caused by her big sis.

"Malevolia," Ryuk lifted his hand, clenching his fist with a visible coldness, as it was time for him to really meet a Flagbearer. "Now, only left is to join with Regina."

"Thank you, Mae, you did great," Ryuk nodded, feeling somewhat obtaining two valuable things in this place: the location and those techniques.

Now, only left was to leave this continent or meet with Drishti about what she had prepared for his training.

"It was really nice meeting you, Esme," Ryuk said genuinely. He felt deeply connected to her in these few days, something confusing yet magical.

Once again, it made him believe that no matter how long it takes for a bond to form, it can be broken, and even the shortest duration could knot a bond that will never break.

"What?" Esme's golden eyes looked at the man, not understanding where that came from out of nowhere.

"I meant, I am leaving soon, Esme," Ryuk informed, understanding her mental state. But it ends here; he was attracted to her, but a wall of trust, which had been broken several times by those who claimed to love him, was far too thick for her to break within such a short time.

"...I see," Esme replied, her head turning down, her trembling lips pursed once again, evident of her state.

With clenched fists, she calmly stood and turned to leave the place, uttering only words, "...I...will come late tonight, don't cook for me."

'....' Ryuk could only look towards her disappearing back, standing there with many thoughts swirling inside his mind, but he couldn't express them.

The least he could do was leave this place with last good memories for her.