Con... Fusion?
Origin World placed a fairly heavy emphasis on dating-sim mechanics, and thanks to a system that allowed players to swap out the main heroine at will, almost every female character who appeared could be wooed.
Naturally, that included the villains.
In fact, because there were so many attractive villains—or rather, characters who were alluring precisely because they were villains, being outright gorgeous and seductive—some players even went out of their way to build an entire hero party composed exclusively of wicked women.
Among them, Cacciola boasted top-tier popularity.
Her features were fierce as a viper’s, yet her elongated, fox-like eyes and lush lashes, paired with a teardrop beauty mark and plump, pouty lips, radiated a decadent, intoxicating sensuality. Add to that an hourglass figure, an exceptionally revealing outfit, and a possessive yandere streak where maxing out her affection made her gaze upon the protagonist with blind, obsessive devotion, and she had more than enough charm to set any male gamer’s heart ablaze.
"Hmm..."
Now that the game had become reality, her appeal was magnified tenfold.
Just sweeping my eyes over her from head to toe was enough to clear my head and treat my eyes. I never expected to run into her in a place like this... though I couldn't say whether running into her was a stroke of good fortune.
Whatever else she was, the woman standing before me was an outlaw—a villain through and through.
"Your eyes reek so heavily of chestnut blossoms I feel like I'll end up pregnant just from you looking at me, my noble lord."
"......"
Even for a villain, talking that recklessly without considering the consequences was a bit much, wasn't it?
"Muriel. Didn't you say you properly put them in their place?"
When I glanced toward Cacciola and gestured, Muriel offered a slight, composed bow.
"My apologies, Young Master. I slaughtered two of them as an example, but it seems this lady still possesses something that gives her confidence."
"Is that so? Well, figures."
Cacciola was a cunning and lethal assassin-type character. She could even employ Shadow Arts, manipulating darkness at will, making her quite similar to Muriel in certain respects. The decisive difference was that while Muriel had barely mastered the technique through horrific, grueling training, Cacciola had grasped it through sheer, unadulterated genius.
Either way, that alone was enough to give her total confidence in slipping away unscathed if things went south. When you factored in the artifacts she likely carried on her person, her brazen attitude made complete sense.
"Hey. Are you ignoring me, noble lord? How long are you planning to keep me standing here like this?"
"You insolent wench. I have sat here listening to you run your mouth, and your rudeness has far exceeded its bounds."
Weller abruptly kicked back her chair, rising to her feet as mana flared wildly around her frame. Her glare locked onto Cacciola.
Right, I was wondering when she’d snap.
Hot-tempered and steeped in aristocratic pride, there was no earthly way Weller would stay quiet in the face of such blatant disrespect.
"If you know we are nobility, conduct yourself with proper decorum. My patience has its limits, so if you wish for mercy—"
"Huh? Who's this woman? Why is she wearing a dress in the middle of a mountain? Ah, wait, is that it? Are you that noble lord's bed-maid, kept around just to relieve his urges? If so, that makes total sense. You'd have to keep yourself pretty and presentable at all times, after all."
"Wh... what?"
Struck by that sneering, venomous barrage, even Weller parted her lips in sheer, dumbfounded disbelief. But that stupor lasted only a heartbeat. Confusion instantly warped into outrage, and outrage combusted into apocalyptic fury.
"...I will kill you."
Hot-tempered as she was, she didn't even bother raising her voice. Instead, she radiated thick, suffocating bloodlust.
She was dead serious.
Fwoooosh! Crackle, snap!
Flames the size of a grown man's torso coalesced into dense, heavy masses, while violent arcs of lightning ripped through the open space, scorching the surrounding brush with terrifying heat. Cacciola seemed mildly taken aback by the sheer scale of the display, but she quickly turned a smirking face toward me—as if expecting something from my end.
...Wait, she doesn't think I'm going to stop this, does she?
From her perspective, it was a fair assumption. I was the one who had summoned them for negotiations, and I had taken the lead in speaking as the party's representative. If talks broke down, the only options left were fighting or fleeing, so she naturally assumed I would step in to keep the peace.
"......"
Too bad I have no intention of stopping her.
More accurately, I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to. A genuinely enraged Weller wasn't about to listen to a word I said.
"What are you looking at? You're on your own."
I gave a nonchalant shrug and took a leisurely sip from my drink.
"What...!?"
Caught entirely off guard by my reaction, a flustered Cacciola hurriedly gathered her mana. In the very next instant, torso-sized fireballs and jagged bolts of lightning streaked forward faster than the naked eye could track. A concussive roar and heavy ruptures reverberated deep in our chests.
"Gaaaah!?"
"Dammit!"
While Cacciola vaulted up into the canopy to execute a flawless dodge, the adventurers trailing behind her took the brunt of the devastation almost head-on.
"Shit! This wasn't the deal!"
"Weren't we supposed to negotiate?!"
"I didn't sign up to make enemies of high nobles! We never should've trusted that crazy bitch!"
Remarkably, not a single adventurer was killed. They were scattered across the dirt, singed, charred, and twitching with residual paralysis, but they had managed to throw up hasty guards and parry the worst of it to minimize the damage.
"Ho."
Just as Muriel had said, they clearly possessed some real skill.
"...Hey, noble lord. Mind reining in that rampaging lunatic of a mage?"
Cacciola called out from a thick tree branch, dropping into a low, coiled crouch.
"Why should I? You brought this entirely on yourself."
"...If we die, dozens of adventurers will swarm this place at once. Hell, with a single wave of my hand, I could call them down right this second."
"Wow, really? That sounds awful."
"I'm not joking around here."
"I'm not joking either."
I gave a soft chuckle and took a slow drag from my cigarette. A thick vein pulsed against Cacciola's temple.
"You really want to do this?"
"Hmm. It's a bit odd that you're only flapping your gums, isn't it, Cacciola?"
"...!?"
Hearing her name rolling off my tongue with casual familiarity caused her expression to falter.
"Given your personality, it wouldn't have been strange if you'd already made your move the second you were attacked... Why haven't you?"
"You talk like you know me."
"Of course I do. Very well, in fact. Ah, incoming spell."
"Tch!?"
Just as dozens of forearm-thick icicles swept through the spot where she had been perched, glowing orbs of light that had silently blanketed the surrounding air detonated in a blinding flash.
"...!! Haaah!"
KABOOOOM!
Severing the nearest light sphere with an aura-coated dagger while simultaneously kicking off the trunk, she flipped clear of the blast zone like an acrobat, landing gracefully atop a distant bough.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
"My, what splendid agility."
"Lord Alzen. I am fully capable of performing such a maneuver as well."
"...Muriel. Do you mind not picking this exact moment to show weird competitive rivalry? Since when was that your personality?"
"Pardon my intrusion."
I stared at Muriel for a second after her out-of-nowhere remark, then shifted my gaze back to Cacciola, whose eyes were boring into me with murderous intent.
"Did you run a background check on me, noble lord? Don't tell me this entire setup—luring us out here included—was an ambush from the start?"
"Ah, no, nothing like that. Don't overthink it. Running into you was purely a coincidence."
"Then how the hell do you know who I am...! Dammit!"
Branches whipped toward her like tentacles while a torrential hail of icicles rained from above. Dodging the onslaught, Cacciola dropped back to the forest floor and charged straight toward me. Was she trying to take me hostage?
"That is far enough. Do not take another step."
Muriel appeared before her in an instant, cutting off her path. A step behind her, Rebecca stood with eyes burning brightly with focused intent.
"Hmph! I never planned to get close to you anyway!"
Cacciola violently pivoted on her heel, intentionally positioning me directly between herself and Weller's line of fire. If Weller fired her next spell in a straight line, it would have to punch through my chest before it could ever reach Cacciola.
"...Ah, I'm going to die. Muriel. Rebecca. Think you can keep me alive?"
"I shall do everything within my power."
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean?!"
While Muriel gathered her energy with tranquil focus, Rebecca darted bewildered glances between me and Weller, failing to grasp the madness of the situation.
"Drop dead."
True to form, Weller didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second before releasing a massive spell.
A roaring tidal wave of lightning swallowed the air, accompanied by a howling tempest of ice lances and a bristling eruption of earthen spikes thrusting up from the soil like porcupine quills. The woman had truly lost her mind.
"Hmph!"
"Guh!? H-hyaaaaah!?"
Astonishingly, the two women deflected that terrifying bombardment almost flawlessly. Muriel blurred her twin daggers at speeds invisible to the eye to weave an impenetrable barrier of blade-work, while Rebecca hauled my body into the air with monstrous strength, sweeping her twin swords across the earth in a clean arc that sheared every rising spike to rubble.
"Whoa. I actually lived through that. You two are pretty amazing, you know?"
"How can you be so relaxed right now?! Lord Alzen, please do something to stop Lady Weller!"
"I mean, you say that, but... Ah, maybe this will work."
Spotting Vivian frozen stiff a short distance away, completely overwhelmed by the chaos, I gave her a quick wave. Snapping to her senses, she came pattering straight toward me without a single shred of suspicion.
...I think about this from time to time, but isn't our youngest sister way too naive?
She had shown glimpses of that innocent nature in the game as well, but never quite to this degree. Then again, her game persona had been forged through brutal hardship after the Duchy was wiped out. Right now, House Stanasila was thriving, so she remained an innocent flower sheltered inside a greenhouse.
"B-Brother! Are you alright?!"
"I saw my life flash before my eyes for a second, but I'm fine."
"How does that count as being fine?!"
"I said I'm fine. More importantly, Vivian, up you go."
"Huh? Eek?!"
I hoisted Vivian clean into the air, holding her out like a shield. Weller, who was in the middle of priming her next spell, instantly froze in place.
"Just as I thought—she won't shoot if Vivian's in the way. Perfect. Vivian, as of this moment, you are my hostage."
"What?! What?!"
"Hey! You dried-up old hag over there! Are you deliberately trying to murder someone?!"
"...I will tear you apart."
Grrrk!
My shout sent Weller's fury boiling right through the crown of her head, her teeth grinding together with a vicious shriek.
"Uh-uh! Behave yourself! You wouldn't want anything bad happening to this precious child, would you?!"
"Eeeek?!"
"...Tch!"
Yet, even that boundless rage was forced to halt before Vivian.
"...Let Vivian go while I am still asking nicely."
"And what happens if I do?"
"I will roast you alongside that wretched adventurer whore...!"
"Then I'm definitely not letting her go. Rebecca. Herd Cacciola over here. Drive her like game."
"Pardon? Ah, yes!"
Though thoroughly bewildered, Rebecca understood the command perfectly. She whipped around behind Cacciola, who was still trying to make sense of the absurdity, and clamped down with suffocating pressure.
Clang! Cl-cl-clang!
"Kuh!? Wh-what is this?! What the hell is going on right now?! Aren't you people on the same side?!"
"Shut up and move if you don't want to die!"
"Please comply quietly. That is your only chance of survival."
With Muriel closing in to apply pressure as well, a flustered, cornered Cacciola was driven straight to my side. She glared up at me, veins bulging on her neck.
"...What are you planning?"
"From this moment on, we join forces to take down that maniac mage."
"What?! Have you lost your mind?!"
"I'm perfectly sane, thanks. Oh, and for the record, you don't get a say in this."
Grinning, I gestured with my chin toward Muriel and Rebecca.
"Disobey, and I'll have them kill you first. Consider this my version of mercy, Cacciola."
"Kh...! You want me to act as your meat shield?! Wait, weren't you bastards on the same team to begin with?! Why did things even turn out like this?!"
"Why? If we're pointing fingers, it's technically your fault. Why did you have to provoke a crazy woman in the first place? Anyway, cooperate if you want to live."
"Damn it all! None of this makes any sense...!"
Still trapped in utter confusion, Cacciola bit her lip hard, desperately trying to calculate her odds. But under the suffocating, synchronized pressure radiating from Muriel and Rebecca beside and behind her, cold sweat dripped down her cheek as she ground her teeth.
"Fine, dammit! I'll do it! I'll do it, alright?! So what the hell am I supposed to do?!"
...She really is noticeably greener compared to the Cacciola of the future.
The Cacciola I remembered would never have faltered under this kind of intimidation; she would have played along with a calm mask while coolly looking for a blind spot to slip away.
"See that escort knight over there? Just stall her. We'll handle the rest."
At my words, Cacciola glanced toward Lira, who had drawn her weapon and stood before Weller with an utterly flabbergasted expression.
"Phew... How many seconds do I need to buy?"
"One minute."
"...Tch! Fine. I'll give it a shot."
"Don't even think about running away, got it? The moment you show any sign of fleeing, you're the first one who dies."
"...Shit. I really picked the wrong people to mess with."
Letting out a ragged sigh, Cacciola tightened her grip on her daggers and leaned forward into a low sprint stance.
"So, I just go right now?"
"Heheh. Yep."
Still, her adaptability and decisiveness were undeniably second to none. Then again, having clawed her way through all manner of cesspools to reach this point with all four limbs intact, it was only natural. Like many other characters in this world, Cacciola had lived an exceptionally turbulent life.
"Huuuup!"
Aura surged around her legs as the muscles coiled, and she launched forward in the blink of an eye.
Or rather, she tried to.
Without ever realizing that I had cast a discreet, unspoken glance toward Muriel and Rebecca just moments before.
Thump!
"What!? What the—?!"
Before she could take two full strides, a leg swept in out of nowhere and hooked around her ankle. Cacciola twisted around, her face pale with shock.
Standing there with a completely deadpan expression was Muriel, her leg still extended.
Cacciola’s balance crumpled, and her body floated weightlessly into the air.
"I'm sorry. But these are the client's orders. If you manage to survive, I will apologize properly!"
WHAM!
"Guh-hurk!?"
Before she could right herself, Rebecca's booted foot slammed into her midsection, launching her high toward the sky. Even as the breath was violently crushed from her lungs, Cacciola stared down at me with absolute disbelief and betrayal burning in her eyes.
"Look, to be totally honest, if we just offer you up as a sacrificial tribute, this whole mess ends immediately. Why waste our energy fighting, right?"
"Y-You goddamn bastarrrrrd...!"
Suspended high in midair, Cacciola desperately twisted her body to regain control, but Weller's magic was far faster.
Toward the airborne target who had essentially been gift-wrapped for slaughter, an apocalyptic tempest of high-tier spells unleashed simultaneously.
BOOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOOOM!
When the devastating barrage finally swept through and dissipated, nothing was left behind.
Not a scrap of flesh, nor a single splinter of bone.