Villain: The Play of Destiny

The 5 am breakfast was a very silent affair. He had not slept all night and had accompanied his mother to the art room, where she made him help her with a clay sculpture.

Venessa had a hobby for Ceramic Art, and it had been a while since she had enjoyed herself so much making something out of clay.

She happily taught and chatted with Keith. And once the work was done, she made him snuggle with her in the hammock by the side of the pool.

Sibyl was mediating all night after she was woken up at dinnertime, and this morning, there was a mystical glow on her face and she seemed to have de-aged a little.

She had finally broken into the True Profound Realm, and unlike yesterday, she was not shy or evading Keith's eyes anymore.

Even though Venessa did not tell him why she gave Sibyl to him, he had a hunch that a part of the reason was Sibyl's growth in Cultivation. She was an Esper too, which was why it was a little harder for her to Cultivate in this world. And Venessa did not want her Shadow to lag behind her so much.

And of course, she wanted to gift Keith something very precious to her.

After breakfast, the two ladies got into the car with him to drop him off at the Netherian Special Forces Headquarters, where he had a meeting with the Special Forces Chief at 8 am.

The Special Forces Headquarters was located on the west end of the City of Damistris, and it was one of the most secure places in Netheria.

At Gate 7, an entourage was already waiting for his arrival. As soon as he got out of the car, two soldiers stepped forward and saluted him, asking him if he was ready to go.

Keith excused himself for a minute and then walked over to his mother. He hugged her, planted a kiss on her head, and then leaned near her ear.

"I love you." He said. "And I promise that I will miss you." He playfully continued, which prompted her to smile.

"Be safe."

"I will." He nodded to her before hugging Sibyl. "Take care of her."

"With my life, Young Master." She resolutely answered with a smile. "Hope you return soon."

Sibyl was not a woman of many words and she seldom spoke, but she did not hide the care she held for him in her heart.

"Of course, I won't keep you waiting for long." He chuckled and then nodded to two soldiers before walking towards the black car that was waiting for him.

Venessa watched her son enter the Headquarters and the gate close, which was followed by a sudden feeling of hollowness.

He had never before been away from her for long, and she now had to wait for over 800 days to see him again.

Right when she clenched her left fist, a sudden heat emanated from the back of her, and her restless heart calmed down again.

As soon as she sat back down in the car, she infused her Aura, making the Rune on the back of her hand appear before her eyes. Her last birthday was the happiest day of her life, and she had received a gift that she was not expecting.

She was married now to the person whom she loved the most in her life. It was an inexplicable feeling that still brought a smile to her face.

"I love you, my child." She whispered and then steeled her heart as she drove away.

Keith was given a tour around the Headquarters by the soldiers that were escorting him, and at exactly 8 am, he entered the office of the Special Forces Chief.

A few other high-ranking Military Officials, including Damien Angelini, were present in the room. He greeted everyone with a polite nod before taking a seat at the table that was vacant for him.

The Cheif, who was an aged woman who looked to be in her late fifties, gestured for him to go through the files that were placed on the table.

Inside, he found the information of the 126 Candidates who had been selected through preliminary examination, which included an Academics Test as well as a Physical Test. As expected, both Julian and Naomi had successfully made it into the final 126 Candidates.

Most of these Candidates were already Soldiers of the Netherian Military, who were recommended by their Cores to the Special Forces, and then some were hand-picked by the Agents from the general population of the country. Julian and Naomi had managed to appear for the Tests thanks to their links in the Military, otherwise, no one who was not picked by the Agents could appear in the Special Forces Tests.

All 126 of these Candidates were Aurors, and there were a few who were Espers as well.

"You will be the 127th Candidate." Chief Lark said after he went through all the files. "Out of the Final Candidates, 40 will be recruited by the Dragon Corps, 40 will be recruited by the Tiger Corps, and 20 will be recruited by the Phoenix Corps..." She explained to him how the candidates will be filtered out, and then finally asked the question that she and the three Deputies under her needed to hear from him. "Which one do you want to join?"

"The Phoenix Corps." He clearly said, much to their surprise.

"Are you sure?" The chief meaningfully looked him in the eyes and asked.

"Yes." He brightly smiled and nodded.

The Phoenix Corps were the Secret Forces of Netheria, and every single member of the Phoenix Corps was chosen after putting the candidates through hell.

Dragon Corps was responsible for National Security and Intelligence, and Tiger Corps was also known as the Federal Corps, which only followed the command of the Governor General of Netheria to tackle any security or other issues, operating within the country.

The Phoenix Corps were the Elites, the Ghosts, who appeared in the Government Data as the members of Dragon Corps, but were in truth the secret force of Netheria, responsible for the most outrageous and deadliest tasks, which also involved some dirty work as well.

Keith had made this decision based on several factors, and mainly because being a member of the Phoenix Corps offered a lot more Perks than the other two Corps that constituted the Netherian Special Forces.

Damien was frowning after he heard Keith's answer. He was actually a little worried about him now, despite the things he had learned about him.

"This year, only 4 Cells will be formed. Each Cell of the Phoenix Corps consists of 5 members. In each cell, there has to be a Phoenix, who is a Doctor, and then a Phoenix, who is an Intelligence and Computer Operative. The other members of the Cell are chosen by the Team Leaders." The dark-skinned man with a bald head spoke. He looked to be around forty years of age and was not wearing any uniform, but a white suit and glasses.

His name was Stanley, and he was the Second in Command of the Phoenix Corps.

"I suppose you already have a few candidates in mind for your Cell?" Stanley meaningfully asked, wearing a light smile.

"Yes." Keith nodded his head. "I am a doctor, so my Cell does not need one. I will choose an Intelligence Operative after the final test, but I want Julian, Naomi, and this guy named Zor in my cell." He picked out the files of the three of them and forwarded them to Stanley.

"We don't intend to recruit Zor in the Phoenix Corps, Mr. Demiliore." The dark-skinned man said with a light smile.

Keith did not have to ask to know why this was the case. Each member of the Phoenix Corps was going to be trained into Elites that could become a threat to National Security if they were not carefully chosen.

The safest method was to choose people who had been monitored since their childhood or people, whom the Government could rest assured about not defecting. People like Julian and Keith, whose Families had Military backgrounds and had their Families and Businesses in Netheria were people who were most unlikely to defect.

Zor was an orphan, and an Esper, whom the Government had only recently learned about. And given his past, he was a dangerous subject who had nothing to lose.

"I will be responsible for him, and if he defects, I will eliminate him." He straightforwardly said, and Stanley kept looking him in the eyes before eventually nodding his head.

"Good luck with the Tests, Mr. Demiliore." He smiled. "I hope the next time I see you, I will be addressing you with your Codename."

"I don't get to choose my codename, do I?" He smiled and asked.

"No. Your Training Instructors will be deciding one for you." Stanley brightly said and then nodded to Chief Lark that he had no issues with Keith's decision.

"Very well, Mr. Demiliore. You will find a man called Six outside, and he will lead you to a room where you will go through a quick Physical Examination and receive your credentials, uniform, and other essentials. He will also drop you off at the Training Camp today." Lark smiled at him, and stood up, drawing her hand forward. "Welcome to the Netherian Special Forces, Lord Erebus."

Keith smiled at the address and shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure, Cheif Lark." He said and then nodded to the other three people at the table before walking out of the office.

Six was a tall man, just as tall as him, but quite muscular with a stoic expression on his ordinary and easy-to-forget face. But he sensed that the man was quite strong, after all, no normal people were present inside this building.

"Lead the way." He politely nodded to the man, who nodded back at him before leading him to the Examination Room.

The Physical Examination was not much. The doctor only checked his height, weight, and percentage of fat in his body, and then checked his Cultivation Realm.

Keith did not plan on revealing his true Realm, and only showed the man that he was at the peak of the Great Profound Realm. It was still enough to give an immense shock to the doctor. A 19-year-old at the Peak of Great Profound Realm could only be a monstrous genius in the world they lived in.

Later, his fingerprints and eyes were scanned to form his credentials. After which, Six led him outside the building where a helicopter was waiting for them to take them to the Training Camp.