Chapter 112
Chapter 112
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Villainess
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Villainess.
Dawn was breaking.
A purple-tinged azure sky hung in the heavens.
Gazing at it, Ermé felt a strange swell of emotion.
‘I prepared thoroughly.’
How much preparation had she poured into the day that was fast approaching?
She had saved many people.
But in turn, she had made just as many enemies.
Yet she had secured even more talented individuals.
‘It’s about time to begin.’
The day those bastards came.
The Demon King’s forces and the Abyss King would begin to stir.
The chaos from Azazel’s stirring—which the Guild Master and Volkan had been so wary of—would be as nothing in comparison.
And at that moment...
Ermé prayed quietly.
Though she didn’t believe in gods.
It was a fervent wish to protect those dear to them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I stared blankly at Lucia.
Her face was flushed bright red, and her eyes were unfocused, shaking.
“We’re in that kind of relationship,”
she had declared boldly.
But her voice trembled endlessly.
“Whoa... to think she’d show such a girlish side.”
“It feels like just yesterday she was bathing in blood after slaughtering hundreds of monsters.”
“......”
A burst of excited reactions came from the onlookers watching us with keen interest.
In truth, even though our lips had touched, it was just a peck of a kiss, so it didn’t feel all that real.
‘...Am I getting old?’
The thought crossed my mind seriously.
It felt good, sure, but only in the sense that it felt good.
Not like the days when it would’ve sent me soaring.
Maybe I was the calmest one in this room.
‘Still...’
I glanced at Chloe.
She was glaring at Lucia with a face full of pent-up frustration.
As if she’d just come face-to-face with the enemy who killed her parents.
Chloe stared at her.
“Got a problem?”
Lucia asked in a voice that had regained some composure.
-She looks like she has a ton of problems with it.
‘Whatever.’
It was a bit sudden, sure.
And it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings among the others. I didn’t mind, but it might block Lucia’s marriage prospects, which was the issue.
Still...
‘Right now, the priority is shaking off that Racter guy or whatever his name is.’
I looked at Racter.
His face wore an oddly liberated expression.
“So you two are dating?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t you have a fiancé?”
“She wasn’t even that into it from the start... The one who begged for a breakup after you two were sucking face?”
“Sucking face? Mr. Racter, you just helped me because I was being treated unfairly.”
“Hmm... Racter seems to feel differently.”
“And watch how you phrase it. ‘Sucking face’? You always say things that invite misunderstandings.”
She glanced at me.
Chloe shot me a look as she said it.
Lucia’s smile deepened.
“Why? Does it bother you because there’s a guy you care about?”
“It’s not like that.”
“Is your relationship with Mr. Racter awkward?”
“We’re not in that kind of relationship.”
“......”
At Chloe’s words, the man called Racter was glaring at me like he wanted to kill me.
Why was he making a fuss at me?
As I looked at him in disbelief...
Something snagged at my senses.
But it was different from any other sensation.
It crept in slowly.
A sticky something approaching.
Unlike anything from the Labyrinth.
Different from any power I’d ever felt.
Like mold.
A bizarre force, sticky and corrupting everything it touched.
-...Why is a Being of Decay here?
The Holy Sword muttered in a dazed voice.
It seemed to know something.
About what that thing was.
‘A Being of Decay.’
Not a very appealing name.
More than that...
‘Ominous.’
Just sensing it filled me with dread.
I narrowed my eyes and stood up.
Thankfully, Volkan and the Black Nether Duke were here.
As I rose, I heightened my senses.
Crackling—purple lightning began to spark.
“Wh-what is this! You wanna fight?!”
Ignoring Racter’s nonsense, I headed outside.
‘Pretty stealthy.’
But since I’d felt the power...
The others sensed the energy too.
I looked at Chloe.
Was she the protagonist or something?
The moment she showed up, this happened.
‘Makes me sigh involuntarily.’
This was why I shouldn’t hang around protagonists.
The moment I did, shit hit the fan.
“Something’s happened, huh?”
“......This energy feels different from usual.”
Volkan wore an uncharacteristically grave expression.
Beside him, the Black Nether Duke nodded heavily, sword drawn, scanning the surroundings warily.
“I’ll stick with Yuseong.”
“Do that. I need to check on the others.”
“I’ll patrol around the Guild.”
Everyone scattered to their posts.
I glanced around briefly, then at Chloe.
‘I don’t know what it is yet.’
I had no desire to protect her on purpose.
She’d insulted Lucia, after all.
However...
If she died needlessly, I’d probably end up wracked with pointless guilt and annoyance.
‘More importantly, the system hid it, and that guy paid attention to it too.’
Nothing about it sat right with me.
So...
‘Better keep her close for now.’
That was the smart move.
So...
“Eek.”
I grabbed Chloe by the scruff of her neck.
Then looked at Racter.
I had zero intention of protecting this guy.
“We’ll handle her, so you fend for yourself.”
With that, I kicked off, gripping Chloe’s scruff.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Why’d you bring her along?”
Lucia asked in a hazy voice as she kept pace with me.
‘Because she bothers me.’
But even someone as oblivious as me knew saying that would stir up trouble.
I pondered for a moment, then settled on something that might work.
“......She has bad vibes.”
“B-bad vibes?”
Lucia gave me a strange look.
Then nodded and pressed forward.
“Bad vibes?”
Soyeonhwa, who’d sidled up beside me, asked.
I nodded.
It wasn’t just vibes; she was nagging at my senses. But close enough.
Soyeonhwa nodded blankly in response.
“But why’d we move all of a sudden?”
“Something felt off.”
“Felt off...?”
She parroted back, then whipped around to look.
“......What the hell is that?”
Soyeonhwa asked in a stunned daze.
Lucia showed keen interest too, peering where Soyeonhwa had turned.
And then.
Splurt!
Something dark red burst from empty air.
Like a long awl.
It pierced and tore through the void.
Drip.
Black blood poured down in streams.
And from the rift appeared nothing but pitch-black emptiness.
“......Doesn’t look good.”
Lucia narrowed her eyes at the sight.
“Eek!”
Chloe let out a small scream.
I squinted at it.
-Beings of Decay. The Corrupters. Or Princes of Decay. They have many names... That’s their kin. They feed on their surroundings with mana, corrupt it all, and ultimately render all life impossible.
‘This is too sudden.’
-You’ve got reason to be rattled. They never show themselves easily.
The Holy Sword spoke quietly, laced with faint fear.
📜 NEW QUEST 📜 [Main Quest - Chapter 3]
📍 Description: You have encountered the Demon King's minions. He has yet to regain his strength from the battle with the First Hero. His subordinates invade to restore his authority—stop them!
🎁 Reward: ???
⏰ Failure: No Penalty
I let out a sigh.
“The Demon King’s minions, huh.”
Staying near protagonists was always dangerous.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Demon King.
That name kept coming up.
The Heroes.
They said the First Hero had seen something before the Demon King and contracted with the Goddess.
After that, the Demon King began to appear.
From that point on, humanity and the so-called other races were driven back.
The four divine artifacts bestowed by the Goddess.
And the Heroes chosen by them.
They drove back the Demon King’s army.
And peace began to return to humanity.
The Demon King appeared periodically.
Amid that, the Labyrinths emerged, greatly accelerating human growth.
It had been a thousand years since the Labyrinths appeared.
And roughly the same time since the Demon King vanished.
“That’s why gossips and scholars started saying it. That the Labyrinths were some trick of the Demon King.”
Chloe explained quickly.
So that’s how it was.
As an outsider dropped here, I was bound to be weak on that lore.
But adding what I knew...
‘The Holy Sword said it.’
They were beasts that would destroy humanity.
The First Hero saw the beasts, judged they couldn’t be beaten.
Made a deal with the Goddess to bar their invasion.
And the Demon King was like their apostle.
“If they’re the Demon King’s minions... it fits this creepy feeling.”
“The Demon King isn’t a lie?”
Lucia responded cautiously to my words, while Soyeonhwa sounded like a kid realizing Santa was their parents.
“Demon King’s a lie... Yeah, you could think that. Sometimes it feels like the Demon King’s just fictional from the start.”
“It’s always ‘there’s this thing,’ but they’ve never actually invaded.”
I drew the Thunder Dragon Sword as I replied to Lucia.
The things from the rift looked like grotesque insects.
‘...What the hell are those?’
My vision, enhanced by Master of the Bow, showed the insects clearly.
Already creepy bastards, with parts of their bodies melting or moldy—utterly horrifying.
‘Are they naturally that gross?’
-The Prince of Decay’s minions mostly look like that. Bits melted away, swarming with countless insects filling the gaps.
‘......’
I really didn’t want to deal with them.
The problem was, they’d spotted us.
And hordes of insects were heading this way.
“Gross.”
“Stay back and watch.”
I told Chloe that.
Lucia’s hair and eyes began turning blood-red.
Drip.
Blood orbs formed in empty air.
They became a barrier enveloping Chloe.
“It’s so gross I didn’t want to use it in front of you, Yuseong.”
“Gross.”
“I know, so shut up?”
Lucia grumbled at Soyeonhwa’s comment and glanced aside.
“I’ll go first.”
Soyeonhwa thrust her sword forward.
The black mana blade hummed—then unleashed a torrent of dark sword energy, forming a sphere.
“Black Sword Amidst Clouds.”
The cloud sphere began eradicating the insect swarms.
I quietly drew the Thunder Dragon Sword.
They came to restore the Demon King’s authority.
So there had to be someone commanding them.
‘With Volkan and Black Nether Duke nearby...’
Maybe I could draw that thing’s attention somehow.
“Kuhahaha! At last, Lord Demon King’s era arrives!”
A potent presence appeared before us.
“Ugh.”
“......”
The moment it revealed itself, Soyeonhwa and Lucia recoiled.
Faces twisted in disgust.
It was warranted.
Its robed form hid details, but it was utterly horrific.
“Do you find me contemptible too?”
A gloomy voice.
I eyed it.
Charred black skin.
Not like a Black person. Pitch-black, like ash-burned flesh. A withered, twisted body.
And where eyes should be: sunken pits.
If it were ordinary grossness, those two wouldn’t react like that.
‘Disgustingly grotesque.’
The two of them earned my respect for only reacting that much. I prepared calmly.
“No matter. Today is a joyous day. So I’ll feed your corpses to the maggots...”
I stepped forward.
Crackle—from my sword, deep purple sword energy emerged. Aura and mana surged, spewing lightning.
Heat and plum blossom scent wafted.
‘Lightning Flash Step.’
A step closing distance in an instant.
“Take th...”
The sudden foe’s eyes widened.
Black maggots in its sockets gleamed oddly.
But faster still.
Slash.
Its shocked head soared into the sky.