Taming The Villainesses

Episode 361.2

(EP-361.2) #6

361 – Protagonist #6

The girl screamed at the horrific sight of the winners' waiting room.

Aslan of Orleans, was it? I remembered she was the finalist for Group H, the match right after mine. Seeing her here, it seemed her match ended quickly.

The problem was that she started growling at me like an angry leopard.

“You, what the hell did you just do!”

The way she yelled reminded me so much of Elga that I felt a strange mix of familiarity and a slight feeling of dismay. Because if she was anything like Elga, I could already predict how this would go.

“You bastard! I knew you were a heinous villain the moment you showed up hiding behind that mask…!”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t do this.”

“Then who else is here besides you?! Coward! Rather than fighting fairly on stage, you resort to a cheap sneak attack!”

Shing.

The furious woman pulled a long spear out of thin air. It was long and sharply conical, more of a lance you'd expect knights on horseback to use when charging into battle.

“I am Aslan, acting lord of Orleans!!! I will punish you!!!”

Fwoosh—!

Aslan, despite merely leaping from the ground, charged at me faster than an armed knight galloping downhill on a horse.

Kwaaaa—!

Was this what it felt like to have a missile flying straight at your face? Fortunately, the spider’s reaction speed was fast enough to match it.

─Mana Shield!

Ten layers of mana shield unfolded. As strong and fast as her charge was, it wasn’t enough to pierce through. After breaking seven layers, she was stopped.

I let out a breath of relief.

“Hu.”

I wondered if my defenses were poor, when that bizarre nymph tore through my mana shield. But the nymph was just unusual, and my defense was still quite high.

“Cowardly tricks!”

While Aslan shouted in frustration, I quickly stepped on her shadow.

Rank 6.

─Shadow Step.

It was a magic I’d adapted from the Draco Family’s shadow binding technique into my own version. As long as I'm stepping on her shadow, she wouldn’t be able to move.

“W—what? I—I can’t move!”

As she panicked, I said to her.

“You’re Aslan, right? Listen to me. There’s a reason for this.”

“Don’t make me laugh! Restraining me like this, w—what are you planning to do?!”

“Aslan, I could kill you right now if I wanted to. But I won’t. Unlike what you think, I’m not a crazy psychopath.”

“… Psycho—what?”

Of course, she wouldn’t know the word “psychopath.”

“Anyway, this wasn’t me. See that guy over there? The Group A winner, demon sword Andromalie. He’s the one who ambushed and killed those people. I just stopped him.

Believe it or not, that’s the truth.”

Just as I finished my brief explanation—

I saw three or four guards rushing toward us from the far end of the corridor.

━There was a huge commotion over there!

━We can’t reach the staff we sent to the winner's waiting room!

━Think a fight broke out?

Festival staff responding to the disturbance, probably.

My eyes shifted toward the corpses lying on the ground.

It was a gruesome scene. The floor was soaked in blood, while a lone masked participant stood in the middle of it all. A noble knightess held captive.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what the guards would think when they saw this scene. I would be the first to be suspected. After all, if the roles were reversed—I would think the same.

Damn it!

The situation had spiraled so far out of control that any kind of plan was now meaningless.

━Hioong…!

‘I know, this wasn't the time for that.’

Demon sword Andromalie… he said something that implied he wasn't alone before he died.

If there really were terrorists hiding in the festival or somewhere in the city of Sandora, their target would naturally be this colosseum where a huge crowd was gathered.

“Hu…”

Thanks to Calm Thinking, my mind began to settle.

Truth was, I already knew. I was being greedy, but this martial festival needed to be stopped. The right thing to do was to evacuate the people and prioritize everyone’s safety.

What came to my mind were Elga and the child in her belly. Stella, and Marmar, and our imp friends, too. Maybe it was a good thing the young ladies weren’t here.

But Aira would not tolerate this festival being suspended. She’d definitely dismiss any talk of stopping the matches.

It would be difficult with ordinary methods.

With ordinary methods…

Whether it was good or bad luck, I had something in mind that I could use in a moment like this.

━Hiooong…

“It’s fine. I’ve done this plenty of times. Actor is already level 10.”

“What are you talking about? More importantly, aren’t you going to let me go?!”

As Aslan squirmed in confusion, the guards finally arrived. They stared at the horrific scene, then drew their weapons and pointed them at me.

━What the hell have you done?!

━Surrender!

The noise echoing from all directions and the angry expressions on people’s faces bled together like smudged paint. It felt utterly surreal, as if none of this were real.

Just a moment ago, I had been planning to fight and defeat Aira on the final stage.

I had no idea how it came to this, but the thought of my plans being thwarted by some group’s malicious scheme left me with nothing but a calm anger.

I didn’t know what their goal was, but I was going to ruin their plans as well. Now, how could I get everyone out of this arena?

Of course, I already knew the answer.

Suk-.

I grabbed Aslan by the neck and held her up like a shield. I could see the tension surge in the guards’ eyes.

━W—What the hell are you planning?!

━You’re taking a hostage?!

To their confusion, I slowly parted my lips.

“I’ve always hated this world.”

Primitive, savage… filled with idiots who set themselves on fire and dove into oil. There were so many times I wished everything would just collapse.

I drew on that emotion and confessed with as much sincerity as I could muster.

“I am the Demon King. The height of all demons. The end of an era. The world’s executioner. Everything I do from this point on is judgment. Accept it.”

Edit by: faker