Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss-Chapter 187: Puppets Of The Chained Man

"You're not as important as you think, Prophet." Nero said calmly as he held Vesper's gaze. "The plague does not need you to work. Your only purpose is to hold the plague within Elnoria and keep the peace. And to be more precise, keep King Kane where he belongs. His palace."

Nero tilted his head and Vesper was dead certain the man was grinning behind it. "As you can see, Prophet, we're all just puppets. Puppets needed for the first Calamity to spread, Prophet."

The man lowered his voice, leaning forward. "Besides," he chuckled, "the Chained Man made sure the information that Lilith Underwood would be passing through on that particular day would get to you."

"What better way to build an enmity between you and the Stolen?"

Vesper's heart raced as his eyes widened. He'd been played. They'd all been played. The Three had the world in the palm of their hands, directing everything. And they'd pitted him against Terence Ross, knowing that this would be the end.

The rage that had always been buried flared, but the hopeless feeling returned. There was nothing he could do about the Chained Man. Or the rest of the Three.

He threw his head back against the tree throne, feeling the branches in his heart coil tighter as he howled his fury into the sky.

"You cannot change what the Three have set in stone, Prophet." Nero laughed, raising his voice as Vesper howled. "Terence Ross is in Rainhold. And whether you like it or not, you shall attack. For it has been fated. And so it shall be."

Vesper howled louder, tears streaming down his face. Not just because of his rage but also because he knew. Nero was right. The Chained man was right.

Logically, he should be more angry at the two. The Chained Man had been working behind the scenes at Albion, making his life the way it was. And Nero was here, pushing and prodding him like he was a puppet.

But emotionally, his hatred for Terence Ross burned brighter. The backwater noble had been the one to pick a fight with him. He'd been the one who turned his life into a haven of misery. Into hellish servitude.

He didn't know how long he spent howling his pain into the sky but when he calmed down, Nero was gone. He was the only one left in the basement.

He slouched, the branches of the tree throne deep within him holding him upright. After a few minutes, he exhaled.

Nero was right. He was going to destroy this city anyways. He was already planning to ever since he'd seen Ren ride towards it before the noble killed his branches.

With a manic laugh, Vesper leaned his head against the backrest of his throne and closed his eyes, reaching for the branches of the Red Tree. His infected. Not the people. Not yet. Just the rats. His rats.

A chuckle escaped his lips, even as tears of blood streamed down his face. How foolish the people of Elnoria were.

Cowering behind their walls, thinking they were safe. Not knowing that the Red Prophet himself already gained access to Rainhold before the plague even began.

But now it was time. Time to pull down the whole city around him. Time to turn it to ash and rubble. Time to destroy Terence Ross.

His mind connected to his hive and he gasped, the tree tightening even more around him. It was like having countless eyes, brains, and bodies, but only one will to command them all. While he could focus on only one thing at a time, his branches did follow his instructions.

They'd been hiding away in the dark places, following his order, but now, it was time to emerge.

He directed the thousands upon thousands of rats through the darkness of the city, moving to different places.

He singled out his targets.

The Church of Creation. The market places. The city wall.

His rats gathered at the wall in a pile, scrambling over one another as he built the necessary amount of firepower needed in this explosion to bring down the wall.

His rats were already in place, spaced evenly enough that the blasts wouldn't necessarily kill, but the blood would spread, infecting as many as possible.

And two last gatherings of rats. First at the church fence. And the other? Right in the basement of the church. He'll donate that and bring down the building on every Chosen within its walls.

Then, he'd find Terence Ross and finish the job.

He savored the moment. Rainhold, still unaware, still dreaming it could be saved.

"Wait for me, Ross." He grinned. "We have unfinished business."

Then, the first explosion bloomed against the church wall.