The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 57
Crack!
One thousand five hundred and fifty-five.
Crack!
One thousand five hundred and fifty-six.
Crack!
One thousand five hundred and fifty-seven… huh?
While swinging the hammer, amplifying Caliculea’s neural activity with a curse spell.
A feeling like the world was getting brighter.
Suddenly, I felt as if a large door that had been blocking the passage of knowledge opened.
A sensation of clarity and openness.
A mysterious expansion of the world I had known until now.
If it were Liam, a status window might have appeared with a message like this:
Ding!
The curse magic had reached the [Mastery] level!
A smile formed.
I realized that I had gotten closer. So, when facing Caliculea this time, I used only curse magic without any familiars. Constantly depleting mana to subdue that creature eventually helped.
[… kill… me.]
The mysterious creature, which had been Caliculea just a few hours ago, twisted grotesquely, tried to open its mouth.
It stopped screaming after a thousand hits. It repeatedly lost and regained consciousness, facing nightmarish moments.
I learned from swinging the hammer that there was no limit to the number of attempts in my wager with it. It screamed at every hit up to a thousand, so I, generously, planned to show mercy until exactly two thousand hits.
Indeed, I was a paragon of nobility.
Caliculea, not knowing my deep intentions, muttered weakly for death.
Oh dear, the match wasn’t over yet… no choice then.
“Let’s call it a draw. I too have a soft heart. A hero who saves the world should have a stronger heart. If one is so kind-hearted…”
Caliculea’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. It was fine, you didn’t need to fumble like a fish; I already knew what you were curious about.
“You were wondering about my total mana capacity. Having reached the level of mastery, I will specially tell you the truth.”
Whether you understood it was another matter.
The refined truth.
I grabbed its hair and made eye contact. Important words should not be said to someone staring blankly at the ground.
I could see Caliculea’s blood-covered eyes. Reflected in them was my appearance, seemingly enjoying the current situation.
“It’s a special privilege.”
You know, like how Liam got the overpowered weapon called the status window by possessing a novel. That foolish guy became the protagonist with just that, standing before the main characters.
So, it wouldn’t be strange if I got something similar.
Even if it was not a status window, something comparable.
Yes, like having a transcendent level of mana capacity. Though not yet reached by rank, it was an infinite potential of mana talent.
Didn’t that explain the current scene?
“Do you understand?”
From Caliculea’s twisted mouth came a faint word, too weak to hear without focusing, but it squeezed out between its lips.
[Kill…me…]
Its lifeless eyes had long abandoned life. It kept repeating to be killed, perhaps prompted by the moment.
It seemed completely broken.
“It’s troublesome. I can’t get an answer to my question… well, then.”
Although the torture was aimed from the start, I said it just once. This place was a stage. Proper performance was needed, it was like a habit from the present world.
I removed most of the overlapping curses on Caliculea. The next curse required high concentration and skill.
To hear the information I wanted, I needed to turn off other distractions.
I shook a small vial in Caliculea’s arms. Inside, a small bug with a pointed stinger reacted, hitting the vial in anger.
I asked Caliculea.
It had a duty to answer.
“What’s the reason for targeting Erica?”
I heard from Borg, that stalker, that Caliculea had a bug from the Goddess Cult.
From that moment, the hypothesis was confirmed.
In the original background, Erica was observed through Borg. Though it was not Borg’s primary purpose, her magic and tendencies were also analyzed.
During that time, <coincidentally> on an anniversary with Vargan, Erica entered the theater alone, unguarded, and was injected with the Goddess Cult’s bug by Caliculea.
Goddess’s bug, Divine Insect, the seed of Altife.
It was called by various names. It moved into Erica’s body through the stinger in its tail. It was a bug that sucked Caliculea’s blood. Following his orders, it finished its work, exploiting her moment of resistance.
The work referred to the process of transformation.
Intelligent Altife couldn’t reproduce, but unintelligent ones could. They used their stinger to transform various cells and DNA in the human body, calling it reproduction.
Those who underwent this transformation lost their intelligence and became another priest-level Altife, continuing the species.
That was the Divine Insect, a bug that used Altife’s stinger.
…
A terrible thing.
The bug was always ready to transform Erica into an Altife at Caliculea’s command. It used this as a threat, shaking Erica.
Or rather, it would have shaken her.
Erica was the villainess. The readers weren’t given kind information to understand her tragic fate.
So, I guessed.
I, Vargan, knowing her true nature.
Estimating the time when she started acting strangely in the Academia, self-proclaiming as the villain.
That led to the current story.
I previously guessed I had to propose lunch to Erica ten times because of this reason. I didn’t know Caliculea was involved back then.
[Erica… she… is…]
Caliculea, in a daze, continued.
The reason the monsters target her?
It was predictable and unnecessary to know.
They simply moved as written in the scripture. Ultimately, they were puppets moving according to the scripture, so whatever reason, they targeted her. The reason was just an additional detail.
Why?
Why, you ask?
Why?
[… because she resembles… the Goddess.]
No, Caliculea.
You were wrong. The fundamental reason the Goddess Cult approached Erica was not that.
There were hundreds of Goddess statues they sculpted.
Only one resembled Erica.
“I will tell you. The reason your group approached Erica…”
To progress the novel’s story.
That was all.
Crack!
I crushed its head completely. No matter how monstrous Caliculea was, it wouldn’t move anymore. It wouldn’t regenerate either.
It faced complete death, an exit from the stage.
“……”
Blood splattered when I crushed the head.
I took out a handkerchief and wiped my face roughly.
At times like this, I wished I had a convenient spell like Clean Magic, but unfortunately, such magic didn’t exist in this world.
I thought again.
No matter how noble a reason was attached, the essence did not change. In the end, all the characters in this novel existed and were created to follow a predetermined ending and development.
Borg harboring feelings for Erica and stalking her.
Caliculea welcoming Erica as written in the holy scripture.
Erica joining the Goddess Cult through a series of coincidences.
And even Vargan’s death.
All elements were tracks leading to the endpoint of the novel’s conclusion.
Squeeze.
The grip on the hammer in my hand tightened.
Without making a sound or showing exaggerated gestures, I clearly conveyed my thoughts.
Make sure not to miss this.
Look.
Erica, who was supposed to join the Goddess Cult, had lost that context.
For her to suddenly start following the Goddess after this day wouldn’t make sense, and another transformation would be needed to follow the existing history.
It deviated.
Since I had to lose the advantage of knowing the future to reach the goal, I would stir it up as much as I wanted.
Look.
Watch closely.
The future developments I would change!
***
11:05 PM.
Professors from Academia entered the theater where Vargan and Erica were.
“I’ve been waiting.”
It was Vargan who greeted Louisa.
He stood on the blood-soaked stage under the yellow lights. There was a severely destroyed bishop-level being that was hard to recognize.
The professors tried to understand the current situation with wide eyes. Despite the severe damage, it was clear that it was an Altife in human form. At least bishop-level.
Unbelievable. A first-year student at Academia killed a bishop.
Louisa quickly examined the state of Vargan and Erica, who was sleeping in the audience. They didn’t seem to have suffered any significant harm.
She stepped forward with heavy, angry footsteps. Facing Vargan, her eyes furrowed deeply.
“What do you think I will say, chief?”
“You would offer appropriate praise for capturing a bishop, right?”
[Don’t talk nonsense!!]
Her anger echoed through the theater along with her magic. The other professors who came with her were also startled and froze.
Vargan maintained indifferent eyes.
His view was that he had done nothing wrong.
Louisa’s anger rose even more at Vargan’s nonchalant attitude.
He clearly knew this would happen. Therefore, he asked what would happen if he was late and openly revealed his mana trace to be found easily.
“Did you think it was a joke when I told you to run if you saw someone above bishop level? Is that why you did something so reckless?”
“Isn’t it enough that I captured it without a scratch?”
“A bishop?! It’s not just physical strength you need to worry about!”
“……”
Vargan knew why she was so furious.
The death of a being above bishop level was immediately communicated to all Altife. Also, the killer left a mark visible only to them.
It followed like a tag, attracting more attention from Altife like a strong scent as it accumulated.
Vargan had stained himself with the first scent.
“The higher beings in this group will start targeting you. Archbishops, cardinals! Do you think you’ll be safe from now on, just like you are now?!”
Louisa grabbed Vargan by the collar and shook him.
She was worried about Vargan. New warriors especially died because this faint scent made them easy targets.
Kill them before they grew stronger.
Cut them off before they developed.
The intelligent Altife were cunning and smart. Without solid protection, they would come like beasts following that faint scent.
“The Academia is a stronghold, so I’ll be fine.”
Altife didn’t attack the warrior training institution because its defense was extremely strong.
Louisa gripped his collar even tighter and rebutted.
“No place you go to from now on will be safe. You won’t rot in Academia forever, so don’t talk nonsense.”
“What good is a warrior who fears the enemy? I should welcome it with open arms.”
“You…!”
“Ah, wait, wait. Louisa. I understand you’re angry, but shouldn’t you first check for injuries? Come on, Master… no, Vargan! I’ll hold this musclehead, so quickly go over there.”
Paula intervened, grabbing Louisa’s arms. Struggling to hold Louisa’s strength, she drew on her magic to stop her.
Freed from Louisa’s grip, Vargan stepped back.
The others would handle the aftermath.
“But really, you need to be careful from now on.”
Paula spoke to Vargan with concern. Her eyes, reflecting the light, trembled.
Any professor at Academia could handle a bishop. But from here on….
“The second danger level… from archbishop and above, we can’t handle it.”
“… I will keep that in mind.”
Vargan bowed slightly. Then he lifted the sleeping Erica and left the spot.
It was the first time he showed courtesy to Paula.
Paula looked at where he had left. She felt unease. Vargan, the third son of the brilliant Schugenhartz family, seemed amiss somehow.