The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

*

Lightning struck amidst the pouring rain.

-Rumble!

The lightning created a flash, illuminating the dark smile of the man in front of Michail.

Michail stared at the man before him.

The scars on his eyes.

That black hair.

That unforgettable smile, with his eyes burning with fury.

“…”

It was the first time.

The first time he had exuded such killing intent towards someone.

The first time he had felt the impulse to kill or tear someone apart.

It was a first for Michail.

Usually driven by a sense of justice, Michail now held a sword towards the man, his expression twisted with rage.

Michail shouted at the man.

“I’ll kill you.”

Michail’s voice, filled with intense anger, resonated with a deadly intent. His eyes, fixated on the man, brimmed with nothing but rage.

“If it weren’t for you… If it wasn’t for you!!!”

Seeing Michail’s boiling anger, the man chuckled.

“Wow… it’s a masterpiece.”

The man admired the trembling tip of Michail’s sword, deeply fascinated by the fruit of his creation.

Almost all high clergy of heretical cults were broken in some way.

Some had excessive inferiority complexes.

Others had twisted perceptions of art.

And the man before Michail was a high priest obsessed with the feeling of revenge.

Soaked in the downpour, the man smiled.

“How does it feel? Seeing me must really get your heart racing, huh?”

“…”

“Isn’t that right?”

“…”

The man spoke with a nostalgic gleam in his eye, as if recalling fond memories.

“Remember when you ‘stabbed’ that kid in the stomach?”

“Shut up.”

“Your expression was priceless, gasping for breath with trembling hands.”

“…I said, shut up.”

Mimicking Michail’s trembling hand, the man recreated the moment an older boy stabbed a child. Infuriated, Michail swung his sword impulsively.

“Shut up!”

The man easily dodged Michail’s strike, stepping back a bit.

“Oh dear. That’s dangerous. You’ve gotten sharp, haven’t you?”

Looking at the aura emanating from Michail, the man smirked and sneered.

“I knew you had talent. From the moment you ‘stabbed’ that knife, I knew you had potential.”

“I said, shut up… shut up!”

Enraged, Michail swung his sword wildly in all directions.

The man, narrowing his eyes, pulled a dagger from his chest and aimed it at Michail’s abdomen.

As the man’s dagger threatened to pierce Michail’s abdomen.

“Get a grip, senior!”

With a booming shout, Hanna’s sword moved swiftly towards the man’s neck.

The man chuckled in amusement, looking at Hanna.

“What’s this now? Two aura users? Wow… The world is going mad.”

Feigning difficulty, the man sighed and raised both hands.

“I can’t win this.”

As the man prepared to retreat.

Hanna did not lower her sword, her eyes fixed on the man.

The man was still smiling.

Hanna swallowed hard, watching the man’s shifting eyes searching for an opening, and spoke to Michail.

“Get a grip, senior.”

“This is personal…”

“Calm down.”

Hanna whispered to Michail.

“He seems to be targeting you. Focus on defense.”

“I need to kill him…”

“Calm down!”

Michail hesitated.

He couldn’t bear to lose sight of the man in front of him.

Rooted to the ground, he struggled to move.

In the tense, hair-raising moment, the man spoke with a smile.

“What are you doing? Run away.”

“Why aren’t you running?”

“Isn’t that what you’re good at?”

“Why”

“Aren’t you running!”

With a loud shout, the man charged at Michail, who belatedly swung his sword in defense, but the man didn’t miss the opening.

Grabbing Michail by the neck, the man threw him against a large tree.

“Hahaha! You should have run when I told you to. Did you leave your teddy bear behind too?”

Groaning, Michail wiped the blood off his mouth with his sleeve and lifted his sword.

But the man didn’t wait and charged again.

Blocking Hanna’s path were a group of cultists, while the man held his weapon before Michail.

***

“Finally, it’s just the two of us.”

Holding twin daggers, the man walked slowly towards Michail.

“Did you miss me?”

Michail’s aura, born of emotion, steadily weakened.

Exhausted from expending too much magic power.

Watching Michail’s fading aura, the man smiled and leaped at him with a powerful stomp.

An endless clash ensued.

-Clang!

to end the man’s life.

When their swords collided, the trees seemed to shake, and the man’s smile deepened.

“Yes!”

“…”

“Look at you, dying to kill me! Keep going!”

Grinding his teeth, Michail swung his sword. Desperate to grant the man’s wish for death, he wildly attacked.

“Haaaaaaaa!”

Smiling, the man parried Michail’s attacks.

“Hahahaha! This is fun. So fun!”

“Shut that mouth!”

“Ha… This is thrilling. I’m glad I let you live then.”

Keeping up with Michail’s attacks, the man spoke to the sweating Michail.

“Do you know something?”

In a low, whispering voice.

The man spoke to Michail.

“That boy you left behind…”

“…”

As the man mentioned ‘the boy,’ a visible crack formed in Michail’s expression.

The boy.

Curious about what happened to the boy after he ran away.

Detecting Michail’s slight change, the man struck again, whispering into Michail’s ear.

“He was alive.”

“What…?”

“He clung to my leg so tightly, even after I stamped on his face several times, he wouldn’t let go.”

“…It’s not true.”

With a malevolent grin, the man laughed as more cracks appeared on Michail’s face.

Seeing Michail’s wavering blade, the man’s lips twitched with wicked amusement.

“I originally planned to kill you both.”

“Kill him and then kill you.”

“But.”

The man approached Michail once more.

“He wouldn’t let go!”

Michail screamed at the man’s words.

“Shut up…!”

Swinging his sword recklessly, Michail’s attacks wavered with emotion.

Though he knew the man might be lying to disrupt his focus, Michail couldn’t quell the surging emotions within him.

That boy would have done it.

He was sure the boy would have.

A boy who was kind without any strings attached.

“Argh!!! I’ll kill you!”

Believing the boy could have been that selfless.

Michail, overwhelmed by anger, shouted. In a rage, he swung his sword madly, his aura blooming fiercely to kill the man before him.

Yet, the man, finding the situation amusing, laughed without hiding his twitching lips.

“Guess what I did with that boy?”

“…”

“The boy who seemed about to die any moment?”

“Aaaahhh!”

Laughing like a man watching an amusing play, the man nonchalantly spoke.

“I sold him to heretics?”

“…”

“You know what they do to civilians, right? You’ve heard the rumors.”

“…”

Seeing the trembling Michail, the man ridiculed him.

“How could you not know such a famous rumor?”

“How sad for the boy.”

Taking a deep breath, the man swung his sword widely.

“They said they’d pay as long as he was breathing.”

“…”

“So I sold him.”

-Clang!!!

“While you were playing in a warm place, he was probably underground, unable to even drink water.”

-Clatter!

“Waiting for rescue.”

-Stop.

Smiling at Michail’s halted sword, the man sneered.

“You didn’t know he was burned alive, did you?”

Michail’s bright aura faded. He had no strength left to resist, no magic power left to hold on.

Shooting a desolate look at the man, Michail bit his lip, eyes brimming with tears.

Feeling ecstatic seeing Michail’s pitiful expression, the man smiled.

“How does it feel?”

“Stop…”

“Isn’t it fun?”

Bringing his dagger to Michail’s neck, the man spoke. Michail, having exhausted all his strength, lifted his trembling sword, but it wouldn’t move.

“Send regards to the boy.”

Then the man thought to himself.

‘If he’s still alive, that is.’

As the sharp blade slid towards Michail’s neck, Michail closed his eyes and cried.

“Farewell.”

Just as the dagger touched Michail’s neck.

“Stop.”

A cold voice halted the man.

-Stop.

The man stiffly turned his head. He felt a chilling killing intent that could freeze his very soul.

Facing him was a young man in a mask.

Wearing a black mask, the young man looked at him and smiled.

Dressed in a black uniform, the young man just stared at him, enough to make the man feel a chilling fear as if his neck was already on the chopping block.

Wi man.

Slowly, Michail opened his eyes.

-Kid.

A shadow that covered the darkness.

Shielding from the fear of death and melancholy.

Michail, mistaken for a moment for seeing the boy’s back, gripped his sword tightly while tears fell.

‘Again, this guy…’

Feeling humiliated for needing help from the person he loathed most, Michail lowered his head and let go of his sword.

-Clang.

After a long silence, the young man slowly spoke.

“Why not leave things here and return?”

The man, with trembling eyes, asked.

“What if I refuse?”

“You die.”

Crazy bastard.

Laughing mirthlessly, the man asked the youth.

“Just one thing. Who are you?”

“A person.”

“No…”

Coughing, the man spoke.

“What do you do?”

The youth replied with a smile.

“I’m the guardian of these people.”

End of Chapter