Chapter 138
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Power Enhancement Support (4)
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'Finally, it's over.'
I'd finally conquered the S-rank gate after a grueling four-day journey.
Aside from meals and sleep, those four days were spent solely hunting Vampire Trolls and having Lorella dominate them.
"Is... is it really over now?"
Ha Chae-jung, who'd spent the last four days battling Vampire Trolls, asked with an exhausted face.
I nodded, seeing that even the boss-grade monster of this gate—the Vampire Troll King—had been dominated by Lorella.
"We've taken down the boss-grade monster, so yeah, it's done."
"Whoa. That was truly a nightmare."
For the record, Ha Chae-jung called it a nightmare because she'd been knocked out by Vampire Trolls over and over.
Not just her—every woman here had been pummeled by them and collapsed multiple times.
'Ha Chae-jung died twice in the process, I think.'
When I asked her how it felt to die and come back, she'd glared at me with terrifying eyes.
Even so, by pushing through those ordeals, we'd finally taken down the boss-grade monster today and wrapped things up.
"And you call this a nightmare?"
On top of that, we handled eating and sleeping back at the villa.
While others rough it out inside gates, we'd been lounging comfortably at the villa.
"What do you know?! You were just watching from the sidelines!"
Ha Chae-jung exploded at my words.
Ignoring her, I turned to Lorella and asked if we were good now.
"Is this enough monsters?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, plenty. I've even dominated an S-rank boss-grade monster. How could it not be?"
Lorella looked a bit awkward but clearly pleased—it was her first time dominating an S-rank boss-grade monster.
Come to think of it, one reason they'd raided the Hero Officer Academy before was to use healers to dominate boss-grade monsters.
'Though the outcome was different this time.'
In the end, we'd dominated an S-rank boss-grade monster, so it all worked out.
"One boss-grade and fifty regular ones, right?"
"Exactly. This'll wipe out a Geneva Cult branch and then some."
I nodded as I watched Lorella, who brimmed with confidence now—unlike when we'd first entered the gate.
'The more monsters she dominates, the more confident she gets.'
More precisely, the stronger she felt, the more confident—but it amounted to the same thing.
Meanwhile, Della seemed lost in thought before speaking up, almost pleading.
"Um, if it's not too much trouble... could you resurrect the villains who died in that raid too?"
"First you want me to send you to the Villain Alliance, and now resurrect villains too?"
Not that it was hard, of course.
I'd stored them in my subsace intending to use them someday.
Time didn't pass in there, so I could pull them out and revive them anytime.
"Since you're already helping, just a bit more?"
Della made her brazen request, whether she knew that or not.
"......"
Seeing me hesitate, Della pressed on with persuasive words.
"You're helping because you want something from us, right? Otherwise, you could've just shipped us off to the Villain Alliance."
"Maybe I helped because I didn't want you dying."
"Then you wouldn't have sent us at all."
She sounded certain, like she'd spent those four days observing me closely.
'What're you thinking?'
Resurrecting the villains in my subsace would help in a war against the Geneva Cult.
But if asked if they'd play a key role? I'd have to shake my head no.
"Why do you want them resurrected?"
"......Honestly, if it's just us three going back, we'll get flak. But if we all return together, at least we have an excuse."
She had a point.
If everyone else died and just the three of them came back, they'd face backlash, like she said.
'Doesn't really matter to me.'
The reason I was sending these three was to inflict more damage on the Geneva Cult.
Even without them, the Villain Alliance's strength was no joke—they'd hurt the cult plenty.
'The surest way is for me to step in.'
I could create a new persona, pretend to be from the Villain Alliance, and take out Geneva Cultists.
But the Alliance probably wouldn't buy it.
'Disguising as one of their villains won't work either.'
They might suspect I was the guy disguised as Jake.
The war between these factions had started because of that disguise—it was off the table.
"I'll accept if everyone signs a contract."
So I agreed to Della's proposal on the condition they signed contracts.
Della grimaced reflexively at "contract," but nodded like she had no choice.
"Fine. I'll convince them."
After the gate vanished, I exited and headed to the villa to resurrect the villains.
I sealed their powers as I revived them one by one, and Della jumped in to persuade them right away.
The resurrected villains had no choice but to sign or die again—the outcome was predictable.
'They all signed in the end.'
Della used a mix of coaxing and threats to pressure them into it.
She seemed useful in various ways, but she still wasn't fully on my side.
'Can't be helped—it's a side effect of forcing it.'
After registering the three villain women into the guild system, I sent them to their desired spot.
They didn't want to reveal their location to me, so they asked for "somewhere fine," but I didn't mind.
Tap tap—
"Lee Seong-min."
With the healer work done, I turned my focus back to school.
While eating lunch in the clubroom and resting before the next class, Cheon Seo-yun, sitting beside me, tapped my shoulder.
"Yeah? What?"
"Look at this."
The tablet she held showed a news headline.
[Geneva Cult Cracks Down on Crime: Eliminates 21 Villain Alliance Branches Worldwide.]
I read the headline Cheon Seo-yun showed me and thought.
'The Geneva Cult's reputation is about to skyrocket.'
People saw the Villain Alliance as the criminal group, so they'd cheer this for sure.
Right as I thought that, Lee Seo-jun, who'd peeked at the headline beside me, chimed in about the captured villains.
-The villains they caught were probably all offered as sacrifices.
'Sacrifices? Yeah, makes sense.'
If they sacrificed civilians, why not villains?
-Plus, villains are all mana-awakened, so they're high-quality sacrifices.
Meaning they'd rounded them up for top-tier offerings.
-The more sacrifices they offer, the more divine power Geneva can wield. The cult might even get stronger.
Lee Seo-jun worried the Geneva Cult would grow.
I got the concern, but the Villain Alliance wouldn't sit idle.
'I gave them a boost this time too.'
With Della's poison and Lorella's monsters, they wouldn't just get steamrolled.
I believed that as I fiddled with Cheon Seo-yun's tablet to check other news.
[Sudden Moves by Geneva Cult: Why Are They Targeting the Villain Alliance?]
[Villain Alliance on the Ropes: Will the Crime Syndicate Be Eradicated?]
[Why Can the Geneva Cult Operate in Other Countries?]
"Lee Seong-min, what're you looking at?"
That's when Joo Ha-yeon craned her neck to peek at the tablet.
Nothing to hide, so I let her see. She sounded quietly impressed.
"Wow, the Geneva Cult's doing good work. Taking down the Villain Alliance and all."
"If you call it good, sure."
"But I'm not sure it'll be okay."
"What do you mean?"
I asked, and Joo Ha-yeon replied casually.
"The Villain Alliance won't just take it lying down. If the cult gets attacked, they'll request reinforcements from the host country, and boom—full-scale war."
"......"
For someone who always seemed bubbly with spirits, that was a sharp observation.
Come to think of it, maybe the Villain Alliance was holding back out of that very worry.
-They're probably aiming for a big counterstrike. But they won't hit Geneva's HQ.
I glanced at Lee Seo-jun at the "HQ" part.
He explained right away when he caught my eye.
-The HQ's where Geneva's god has the strongest influence. Even their leader, Lucas, would be in danger there.
'Even Lucas is at risk...'
Even with his ridiculous time-stop ability, gods were another level.
Truth be told, without my online game skills, facing a god would be near impossible for me too.
'All the divine foes I've beaten so far were handled with game abilities.'
Game skills and items, technically the Creator God's power, not mine.
'Anyway, if the Villain Alliance starts losing, maybe I'll execute that idea I had.'
The idea: create a new persona to pose as Villain Alliance and hit the Geneva Cult.
Infiltrating the real Alliance was ideal but unlikely—they'd never accept it.
'If push comes to shove, that's the play.'
Not right away, though.
Lee Seo-jun said they were biding for a big move, so I could watch and decide later.
'The Alliance hasn't moved their S-ranks either.'
I figured no need to act now and got up for the next class.