The Role of a Villain
First things first. I swiftly moved the Black Wing.
My targets were the two civilians. I wrapped the cook and the woman who seemed to be both server and owner in the Black Wing and pulled them out of harm's way.
"Th-thank you so much... Ugh!"
After receiving their gratitude, I struck the back of their necks and knocked them out. Then, using Heumong's engraving, I implanted a mild illusion into their minds — to erase any memory of the keyword Starlight Mana.
That way, Seo Gayeon's mana would never be exposed.
"Huh, playing the hero, are we?"
"I'll take that one. The rest of you, hold the line."
"Slicing them up one by one, nice and slow, right? I know the drill."
The demon worshippers started chattering among themselves.
Yeongcheon. Do you know what that thing was used for?
-It belonged to one of the past Heavenly Demon's lovers. As for its use... well, it's a bit embarrassing to say, since it's rather... carnal in nature.
...You don't need to say anything more.
No wonder she moaned every time I polished the blade. I should have figured it out back then.
I took a single step forward.
Toward the demon worshipper holding the handcuffs. I deliberately walked slowly.
Walking slowly is actually harder, you know.
The demon worshipper stretched out his cuffed hand.
Handcuffs are useless against me.
Time to devour some Reverse Heaven energy.
Up close, I stirred the Reverse Heaven energy within me. The conceptual stat, Reverse Heaven — a power governing concept itself — reached out and seized the energy dwelling inside those cuffs.
Conceptual Stat Reverse Heaven has increased by 10.
...Wow.
The handcuffs themselves were useless, but the Reverse Heaven energy embedded within them was no joke. A surge of fullness swept through my entire body.
The Black Star lodged in my heart began to churn violently. Gathering the Reverse Heaven energy, I seized the demon worshipper's hand.
"This is absurd. A contest of strength with a mere demon worshipper... Huh?"
Crunch.
I tore his arm clean off.
"GWAAAAAAAAH!"
Ignoring his scream, I appraised the handcuffs — just an ordinary pair. I turned to Seo Gayeon.
"You can do it, right?"
"Yeah."
Seo Gayeon stepped forward. Starlight swirled around her. Her hair was submerged in that radiance, and her violet eyes fixed on the demon worshipper.
"...That's..."
Kim Seohyun stared at her with a grave expression. Hong Yuhwa's eyebrows twitched.
Mana that affirmed the death of all demon worshipped swept over them without a flicker of hesitation.
"Ah...?"
A dazed, witless sound from someone who couldn't comprehend what was happening. Those would be the demon worshippers' last words.
The sphere of starlight, merely by unfolding, pronounced their sentence of death.
"What— no, what on earth is..."
Kim Seohyun kept repeating herself.
"Whew."
Seo Gayeon released her transformation, returning to black hair and black eyes. Her gaze found mine, brimming with a silent plea for praise.
"You did great. You're getting the hang of it now."
"Yeah, you helped me a lot, Seoha."
"See that? Our Gayeon is incredibly strong, isn't she? When it comes to taking down demon worshippers, Gayeon is the best."
"What kind of power is that? No—sorry, that was rude of me. I got too worked up, sorry. This isn't just a natural counter. This might be a power capable of wiping out every demon worshipper on Earth."
Seong Hanbyeol said, practically vibrating with excitement, as she approached Seo Gayeon.
"Could this power be amplified? Or—do you hate demon worshippers? Of course you do. They're not even human. Would you be willing to help us? It wouldn't be dangerous. Well, it would be dangerous, but we'd make absolutely sure you stay safe, Gayeon."
"I'm sorry."
Seo Gayeon bowed her head slightly and spoke.
"Seoha comes first for me. He's the one who helped me awaken this talent. And... there's still so much I have to learn, so I don't think I'd be able to help you just yet."
That's my well-raised Gayeon. Ten out of ten... even Hong Yuhwa can't compete.
The next day.
I woke up lazily in bed. The roommate scenario with Kim Seohyun never happened — because everyone got a single room.
Seo Gayeon and Seong Hanbyeol sat side by side, chatting away. And next to them sat Hong Yuhwa, alone.
I wanted to go to that table. Instead, I picked up a few things to eat and headed toward Hong Yuhwa.
"Hm? Not going to sit with Seong Hanbyeol?"
"Nah. Going over there right now wouldn't do me any favors."
"Usually you're completely oblivious, but this time you're actually reading the room. Or are you just pretending not to notice?"
Hong Yuhwa elegantly twirled spaghetti around her fork and took a bite. Then she subtly drew a veil of mana around us.
"By the way, that girl's mana — what exactly is it?"
"Starlight Mana. The mana that will deliver the final word to every demon worshipper alive."
"...That's what it looked like."
Hong Yuhwa studied me for a moment.
"Knowing your personality, you'll keep dragging her along with you everywhere. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"So you can get your revenge, you mean?"
"Yeah."
Hong Yuhwa looked at me with those crimson eyes.
"...Let's talk about that later."
The atmosphere grew a little heavy. I wondered if I shouldn't have brought it up — it was a wound for her.
"You haven't been challenging me to contests lately. Did I beat you so many times that now you're scared of me?"
"...Ha. Unbelievable."
Hong Yuhwa made a face of pure exasperation.
"How about this — at the exchange, we see who defeats their opponent faster?"
"That's massively unfair to you. You're way more likely to win."
"What can I say? I'm just that good."
"Ha."
Hong Yuhwa laughed in disbelief — and then, before long, she was laughing for real.
"Fine. I'll take you up on that."
"Who'd you draw, anyway? Decent opponent?"
"Right. Not letting you off easy this time."
I briefly pictured my own opponent. As the top student of our academy, I'd be matched against theirs — and that someone was, by all accounts, Kim Seohyun's rival.
I'd approached her yesterday, but I'd run off, so she was probably furious with me. Thoroughly, royally furious.
We finished breakfast, gathered the students,
and headed for Divine Academy.
"Whoa, there are an insane number of people."
"It's a hugely popular event. Plus this year's classes all have 'Golden Generations' overlapping with each other."
Just as she said, an enormous crowd had gathered. A dozen or so helicopters hovered overhead, and everywhere I looked people were filming on their phones, streaming, or conducting interviews.
"Did you know? The festival runs for six days. One mock battle, then a break, apparently. Today is the individual matches, next comes the group matches. On the last day, there's a team battle where each class fights separately."
"...Would be nice if it were over in one go."
"Maybe you'd be fine, Seoha, but the rest of us would be dead on our feet."
Erciel said with a bright smile.
And just like that, before I knew it, the time for the mock battles had arrived.
"Han Hyoseong of Hero Academy versus Yohan of Divine Academy!"
The called-upon students ascended to the dueling arena.
"They're starting fast."
"Yeah."
I sat beside Erciel, sipping a cola as I watched the duel.
Should've expected as much.
Seo Gayeon, once dead last at Korea Hero Academy, had climbed all the way to one hundredth place. Kim Ara, though ranked two hundredth, was overpowering students from the very top tiers.
And on top of that, Hong Yuhwa had bloomed her Usurper of the Blooming Red Lotus and was displaying utterly dominant performances.
In short — the students had been spurred on, and they'd grown stronger.
Time flowed on, and the matches reached Hong Yuhwa.
Her opponent was a knight.
"My opponent is a mage...?"
"Can't even recognize my caliber? You're a empty shell, then. Does Divine Academy only raise empty shells?"
Hong Yuhwa curled one corner of her mouth at the knight's words.
"Wh... what did you say?"
"Even when brats like you come at me, it barely registers as a snack. Well, nothing to be done about it."
"Y-you son of a bitch! I won't go easy on you just because you're—"
"Go easy? That's what the strong do for the weak. It's not a phrase for the weak to use."
With those words, Hong Yuhwa drew out the Crown of the Red Lotus. And with a single spell, she felled the opposing knight.
"One minute ten seconds. I won. You may as well give up — if you surrender now, I'll accept it."
"One minute ten seconds, and you're satisfied? It's not too late, you know. Just say 'Please forgive me, Lord Lee Seoha,' and I'll be merciful."
While they were trading barbs, I heard that Kim Seohyun had won. Checking the time — fifty-three seconds.
"..."
A faint sheen of cold sweat seemed to break out on Hong Yuhwa's head.
"Next up is Erciel."
"Even for Erciel, divine power excels at mental defense. She'll have a rough time of it."
Hong Yuhwa gave a confident smirk.
"...It was over in thirty seconds?"
"I did well, didn't I? So praise me, please."
Erciel, who had somehow already appeared at my side, beamed and said.
"...How did you land illusion magic on her?"
"Well, that's because you're here, Seoha. You have anti-magic resistance so high that illusion magic simply doesn't work on you, so I kept trying to break through it... and eventually it just worked. Though, even so, you never actually fell for my illusions."
Of course I didn't. Reverse Heaven energy is practically immune to illusions and curses.
"Next is Lee Seoha. Prepare yourself."
"Yes, sir."
I headed up to the dueling arena alongside Instructor Seo Wooju. My opponent was a holy knight clad in gleaming golden full plate armor that concealed her entire body.
Armor woven entirely from divine power. Its defensive strength halved even blade-qi class attacks and blocked magic outright.
It boasted defenses strong enough to withstand the flare from Hong Yuhwa's aura — the same aura that had once sent a demonized minotaur flying with a single strike.
My opponent strode forward, step by measured step. The cheers grew louder.
I smiled to myself, slyly.
Cheers born of faith that their champion was absolute. And on the opposite end of that faith — me.
I'm the outright villain here, aren't I.
I don't consider myself justice. If anything, I'm closer to evil.
And the one standing before me was probably positioned as something like a messenger of justice, here to deliver victory to the masses.
Fun.
I like this role. I prefer playing the villain over the hero any day.
The demon king role isn't bad either. A demon king who blocks the hero's path has charisma, after all.
Not a role that loses to the hero — but a being that hands the hero despair.
"How is it? How does it feel to be the villain?"
"Better than I expected, honestly."
"You've got a nasty personality. Well, honestly, I like playing the villain too. It looks cool."
My opponent said in a confident voice.
"Come to think of it, we haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Cynthia. Pleasure's all yours."
"My name is—"
"Lee Seoha, right?"
Cynthia giggled.
"Sorry, but even when I try not to care, I just can't help it. Well, either way — thank you."
"For what?"
"Beating you means I'm that much more exceptional, doesn't it? They call you the greatest genius since Korea Hero Academy was founded? I get called that too, you know."
Cynthia drew closer to me as she spoke.
"So don't worry too much. Even if you lose to me, you can just tell yourself you lost to the genius who mocks even the gods."
"..."
I stared at Cynthia. Even knowing what kind of personality she had, it was staggering. Is it really okay for someone so beloved by the Divine Pantheon to be like this? Honestly, Pantheon?
"We will now begin the mock battle. All combatants, show respect to your opponent and duel with honor."
Cynthia and I bowed at the same time, then raised our weapons.
I wreathed Heukcheon in Reverse Heaven energy. The power that negated all things formed ripples along the blade, and at my will, it became the edge itself.
Vwoooom!
Light descended upon the greatsword Cynthia carried. Through my Divine Sight, I sensed countless colors dwelling within it — proof that many gods of the Pantheon had granted her their divinity.
CLAAAAANG!
Sword met greatsword, shockwave rippling outward. The Reverse Heaven energy denied the divinity; the divinity resisted the Reverse Heaven energy.
Sloppy. No — is it just too blended together for her to handle properly?
A single exchange.
That was enough to gauge Cynthia's condition.
I smiled a little bitterly.
My opponent was Kim Seohyun's rival. In this world, her potential ranked among the very highest, and she was one of the individuals most likely to become a Transcendent someday.
And that was exactly why I had overestimated Cynthia so... so absurdly much.
I drew out the Black Wing. The black blades sprouting from my shoulder blades carried me into the air. The greatsword came flying at my face.
With the subtle artistry of the Soul-Reaping Sword Art, I deflected the greatsword at an angle. The mass of divine power was denied and scattered into nothing.
Then I extended my hand — straight to the top of her helm.
"Ah...?"
A distorted voice echoed. I poured Reverse Heaven energy into my palm. Black fracture — the absolute strike that shatters all abilities.
Reverse Heaven scattered every trace of divinity. The full plate armor came apart at the seams. The helm's shape was half crushed.
"W-wait—"
And then. Gripping her head, I slammed it straight down into the ground.
"GYAAAAAAAAH!"
Accompanied by a distinctly feminine shriek, a massive crater opened in the arena floor.