Chapter 181: Clone User (1)
Chapter 181: Clone User (1)
“This is it.”
Shin Tae-geon, the Association Chairman, and Queen.
The three of them entered the Gate where the Villain Association was located, guided by Kang Young-hoon—a time-stop ability user and an executive of the Villain Association.
Unlike Floss, they didn't lose their way or end up somewhere else. With Kang Young-hoon, who was familiar with the geography, acting as their guide, they safely reached the true headquarters of the Villain Association within the Gate.
“It looks… kind of like a Demon King’s Castle.”
“That’s actually what we call it. The Hypnotist’s tastes run that way.”
“That way?”
“Should I call him an otaku? Anyway, they’ve been calling it that since before I joined the Association.”
The Demon King’s Castle. Shin Tae-geon chewed over the name. For some reason, he felt like he was on a quest to rescue a princess kidnapped and held in a Demon King’s Castle.
Of course, Floss was a Magical Girl, not a princess, and he wasn't a Hero of Justice but an Invisible Man. Furthermore, in terms of pure strength, Floss was incomparably stronger than Shin Tae-geon.
‘Right, Floss said she came here to save the Operator in the first place.’
He had heard the gist of it from the Association Chairman—why Floss had been clinging to Kang Young-hoon for a while.
In the end, she did find the way to the Villain Association. However, it wasn't because Floss had subdued Kang Young-hoon. On the contrary, she had been the one subdued, had her pussy plowed, and while trying to head to the Villain Association with Kang Young-hoon, the connection was severed, leaving Floss stranded there alone.
Of course, Kang Young-hoon sneered inwardly upon hearing those words.
‘Approached me to find out how to get to the Villain Association? Well, maybe. But what does it matter now that she’s a pussy slave completely subordinate to me?’
If Shin Tae-geon or the Association Chairman had heard these inner thoughts, they likely would have mocked him in return, so it was a wise decision on his part to keep them to himself.
“By the way, are there no security forces?”
The Demon King’s Castle had an eerie atmosphere. Since it served as the de facto headquarters of the Villain Association, one would expect a significant number of guards. Especially since they were supposedly holding the kidnapped Operator at the summit.
However, no matter how much he looked around, the Association Chairman couldn't find any obstacles blocking outsiders. Forget guards; there weren't even security systems. This was the headquarters where several major villains besides Kang Young-hoon should be staying, so he wondered if it was okay for it to be this lax.
“It is relatively lax. To begin with, entering this Gate means you’ve already passed a rigorous verification process. In a world where only villains can enter anyway, is there really a need to ramp up security at the Villain Association headquarters?”
The others nodded in understanding at Kang Young-hoon’s explanation, but Kang Young-hoon himself frowned.
“But this is strange. At the very least, there’s usually at least one person standing guard on rotation. Especially since right now is a critical time.”
“A critical time?”
“The Hypnotist, that guy is with the Operator… well, we can talk about that as we go.”
“Let’s do that. We don’t know how much time is left until the future Queen saw, so we have to hurry.”
Regardless, the lack of guards or sentries was a stroke of good luck for Shin Tae-geon’s group. Though suspicious, now that they knew the reason, there was no reason to refuse the advantage.
“Since it’s just one person, who knows, maybe they’re slacking off somewhere.”
“If a subordinate Hero did that, would you just leave them be?”
“Subordinate? I am merely the Association Chairman. Our Heroes are all comrades. What are you talking about? Let’s just move.”
“Hmm….”
Kang Young-hoon tilted his head, still finding it hard to accept.
Reluctantly leading the group toward the summit of the Demon King’s Castle, he soon discovered the whereabouts of the villain who was supposed to be on guard.
“As I thought, this is what happened.”
As soon as the sight of the fallen villain caught their eyes, everyone in the group knew. Floss had passed through here a short while ago. And she had likely reached the summit of the Demon King’s Castle by now.
To find out what happened between this villain and Floss, we must go back in time a little….
*
After beating down Ceylon and escaping the Room Where You Must Have Sex to Leave that he had created, I moved immediately. Toward the black castle I had been eyeing for some time.
“Ugh.”
It felt like my breath was being taken away. An unusual atmosphere emanated from it. It wasn't a feeling of being scared or terrified. It was more like I was being slightly suppressed by an overwhelming pressure.
‘It’s like a Demon King’s Castle.’
However, this pressure likely wasn't coming purely from that castle-like building itself. I knew. Sometimes, people themselves can radiate a terrifying aura.
Alone, no one could radiate an aura powerful enough to overwhelm me, a Magical Girl and a Hero, but it’s possible when many are gathered. I’ve felt it when seeing a vast hall, like a soccer stadium, baseball field, or concert hall, packed with people.
But it shouldn't be like that here. It was strange to encounter a massive crowd here of all places.
‘This is the Villain Association.’
It wasn't a place built on land bought in some small provincial town, nor was it a secret base hidden away on a deserted island or in the polar regions. It was a secret base created using a Gate. It was a place permitted only to a very small, selected number of villains within the Villain Association.
Yet for some reason, that black castle was teeming with people. It was swarming with people like a famous department store in a big city, and it was hard to believe that they were all individual villains.
‘Is there some kind of trick?’
Maybe they weren't real people but hallucinations. Or maybe they weren't human but cleverly disguised robots.
But I soon dismissed my own guesses. I was someone who hadn't been affected by the Hypnotist’s hypnosis at all. Furthermore, I wasn't in my civilian form right now but transformed into a Magical Girl; there was no way I had fallen for a mental attack.
As for them being robots instead of humans, well, there’s no need for a complicated explanation. You can just tell by looking.
The distance was far, but with this extraordinary vision, I wasn't such a fool that I couldn't distinguish between a human and a robot. Though they wore black clothes and black masks, hot blood was definitely circulating through their bodies, and their hearts were beating. They were clearly human.
That left only one option, but it was a bit hard to accept.
“All of those are people. Real people.”
Even I couldn't subdue that many. There were at least four digits’ worth just by a rough count, and not only did I not know what abilities each villain possessed, but knocking them down one by one would simply take too much time.
‘Were there really this many villains in our country… or did they perhaps recruit foreigners too?’
There was no way to know. For now, I had to think. How to get inside.
“Hmm.”
……I guess I have no choice.
I couldn't see any infiltration routes. Only the main gate. Since every gap was being monitored by those unidentified villains, infiltration was impossible unless I became an invisible man.
There was only one move left. Revert from my Magical Girl transformation to my civilian form and approach the main gate boldly. If I could deceive them during the inspection process, I might get inside, but if I were caught as an outsider, it would turn into a full-blown battle.
What I was aiming for was that brief window when the inspection process turned into combat. Regardless, my goal today wasn't to wipe out the Villain Association but to rescue the Operator. While it would be difficult to knock down that massive crowd, breaking through, finding the Operator, and then escaping was doable.
‘Who knows. It might be some kind of trick.’
In my common sense, it was impossible for that many villains to exist. So, I just had to clash with them. If it wasn't a hallucination or a robot, but some other trick I hadn't anticipated, I would only be able to figure out how to break it by facing it directly.
“Ahem, excuse me……”
Returning to my civilian form as planned, I put on some clothes I had picked up from Ceylon’s house—it seemed a woman who had visited Ceylon’s house previously had taken off her clothes for some reason—and approached the building that looked like a Demon King’s Castle.
In the process, I learned a few things.
First, they weren't standing guard in fixed positions. They were prowling around like wild animals, growling.
Second, they were all men. It was just a suspicion from afar, but up close, I was certain. They were all far too large in build and height to be women. If I had seen even one small person, it might be different, but at least from what I could see, they were all men.
‘It’s not like I’m a bitch obsessed with men so only men catch my eye, right?’
After relaxing my body with a light joke, I smiled and greeted a nearby masked man.
“Ah, hello~ Would it be possible for me to go inside?”
I think it was the best I could do. Until just a moment ago, I had been pinned down by a cocky Dark Elf brat and had my ass and pussy violated. I was anxious to get inside as quickly as possible, and my lips were parched from the delay.
Even in that state, I faked a smile and acted like a female villain who had business in this castle, but—
“Grrrrrr……”
“Pardon?”
It seemed my kind attitude didn't work on them.
“Grrr!”
“Graugh!”
“Khh, kgh… Grrrrr!!”
“What the hell?”
Startled, I even let out a curse and stumbled back.
Looking closely, these people weren't normal. I hadn't realized because their faces were covered by masks, but their behavioral patterns were far removed from those of ordinary humans.
‘Beasts? Zombies…?’
I didn't know what they were, but it was certain that their intelligence levels were extremely low. They didn't even have basic language skills left. Starting to get an ominous feeling, I began to debate whether I should transform into a Magical Girl.
But then, the masked men lunged at me all at once without warning.
“E-Eek…?!”
They acted purely on their desires. What would a male beast do first when faced with a top-tier female beast? It was obvious if you thought about it.
“Grrrrr!”
“Growl!”
“Graaaah!”
Each of them reached out with thick, large, dark-skinned hands and grabbed my body. My hair, arms, shoulders, breasts, waist, buttocks, thighs, feet… every part of my body that could turn a man on was covered by the hands of the masked men.
“W-Wait… what is this…!”
It couldn't be helped. If it’s like this, I have no choice but to ignore them and charge through—just as I thought that.
“……Huh?”
I realized something.
‘They’re the same.’
They were so perfectly identical that the word "similar" couldn't even describe it. The beast-like voices, the size of the hands, the thickness of the fingers—everything was so identical that I couldn't think of them as different people.
They seemed to have tried to deceive me with different shoe heels and clothes that hid their physiques, but in the end, it couldn't be hidden.
‘So that’s what it was.’
……The crowd I thought numbered in the thousands was actually just one single human being.
The Clone User.
The moment I chewed over that famous cliché, my clothes were torn to shreds by their hands.
