The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 82
Louisa began her fierce assault with a dagger, and the other two professors, Paula and Lucien, supported her.
Zagan, unable to achieve liberation, was gradually being overwhelmed, accumulating more injuries as time passed.
A red aura enveloped Louisa’s sword.
A single misstep and a severe cut would take a long time to heal. They needed to minimize the damage to the minimum.
Arterion, Alicia, and Leon initially tried to join the battle, but they quickly retreated from direct combat, maintaining only a defensive stance.
They couldn’t intervene.
Louisa’s display of true skill was so overwhelming that they were too busy taking it all in, doubting they could contribute.
Even the crazed genius Alicia, the future sword master Arterion, and the reckless Leon could feel it clearly.
They were still too young.
If they interfered, they would only get in the way.
Drip, drip.
The shattered remnants of the inner wall from Louisa’s party’s attacks writhed like living worms, crawling back up to the ceiling.
The ceiling, which had been gaping wide open, was restored to its original state.
Realizing her own diminishing necessity, Alicia hurried to cast a healing spell on Nikela, who was lying nearby, breathing heavily.
Liam was also casting healing magic, but his state was deteriorating, causing his output to falter.
Vargan was observing this from a short distance away.
The situation was apparent from her appearance alone. Nikela was showing severe signs of mana deficiency.
With proper first aid, she might survive, but it seemed unlikely she would avoid the side effects.
Liam’s eyes were empty, as if his mind had left him.
He held Nikela’s hand tightly, seemingly making an effort for her, but from another perspective, it was more for himself.
If Nikela were to die here, Liam would collapse beyond recovery.
The weight on his shoulders was already different from when they first entered this place.
The corpses of his former comrades were strewn about. Ophelia, Lucaiel, and Haliana—they were all alive just moments ago, dreaming of the future.
Nikela’s survival was his only lifeline.
Thud⎯!
Louisa’s sword clashed with Zagan’s scythe, producing a loud boom. Mana burst out like sparks, sending shockwaves in all directions.
The time left until liberation.
About 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Zagan’s expression darkened.
She gritted her teeth so hard that the veins around her eyes bulged. The professors’ relentless cooperation didn’t let up.
Zagan’s right arm was severed.
Slash⎯!
With one arm gone, the balance she had barely maintained was shattered in an instant.
Her remaining arm was soon cut off, and her neck was targeted.
Watching this, Vargan drew out the power of the red gemstone ring he wore to its limit.
The ring was a relic from the Schugenhartz’s vault, a third-tier artifact, but it was single-use.
Its effect was a temporary boost in mana.
Vargan needed to use the power of artifacts to temporarily increase his total mana capacity.
Only Vargan was prepared for the current situation.
In the novel, Zagan had faced mortal danger just like this. Liam might have known, but right now, he had no mental capacity to focus on anything else.
“…….”
Erica, who stood near Vargan, noticed when he began to draw out the power of the relic to its extreme.
She said nothing. Her eyes grew sharper as she simply observed him.
Just as Louisa’s blood-stained blade was about to sever Zagan’s neck⎯
Rip⎯
Behind Zagan.
A distortion in space occurred, similar to when Erica used her warp magic. However, this time the form was grotesque. It opened like the mouth of some creature, lined with teeth.
[I could still do more! I didn’t lose to those people!]
Hundreds of pale hands wrapped around Zagan, who was whining like a child, pulling her into the gaping maw.
Despite her words, Zagan did not resist.
Erica, assessing the situation, tried to determine who was responsible for this.
“… warp magic? No, that can’t be. The nest’s interior and exterior are disconnected. It might work inside, but external contact should be impossible!”
As if in response, black hands began to encircle everyone’s bodies, just like with Zagan.
Manifesting from the ground like tattoos, the hands crawled up their legs, constricting their movements completely.
Even Louisa, who had been pummeling Zagan, couldn’t escape the black hands and shouted.
“Are you fleeing pathetically?!”
Louisa understood the situation.
This was part of the authority of the group Zagan belonged to, the <Higher Entity>.
With eyes filled with killing intent, she shouted into the darkness of the space that opened like a mouth.
Though she was speaking to Zagan, her gaze was aimed deeper.
“Grrraa⎯⎯!”
Louisa’s anger boiled within her.
Even as her muscles threatened to burst and her mana circuits burned from the strain, she couldn’t move.
Every part of her body, except her mouth, was paralyzed, refusing to obey her brain’s commands.
She was about to lose the archbishop she had almost caught.
At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to avenge the dead students!
⎯Crack, rip.
Her muscles and skin began to tear.
She was forcefully trying to move her body despite the oppressive force.
[You’re completely insane, aren’t you? If you keep this up, your body will fold into a ball.]
Zagan spoke mockingly, in a light tone.
Though it was infuriating to be driven to this point, she would seize the next opportunity and annihilate them.
Time was on Zagan’s side.
Though it was unlikely but if they grew too powerful to handle, she could wait until they were old and weak. She would strike then.
Hehe.
She smirked.
[As disappointing as this is, let’s meet again later. I remember everyone here. I’ll make sure to devour all of you.]
It was a curse, a promise that she wouldn’t leave the ones who had driven her to this state alone. She was instilling a lifelong fear of death into them.
For her, everything was amusement, and people were toys. Her power, when liberated, was absolute.
Zagan searched for the man who had played a significant role in pushing her to this point with her horizontally split pupils.
If it weren’t for the ridiculous situation of failing to achieve liberation, this wouldn’t have been a problem…
“Alicia, I’ll borrow Naias.”
“Master…?”
Step.
It was the first time they had ever seen such genuine shock in Zagan’s eyes.
No matter how much natural mana he possessed, that young boy was still just a kid.
Even that muscular female professor, who was the strongest here.
Even the professor with the big hat, who probably knew the most about magic.
They were all frozen, their mouths merely opening and closing.
It was no wonder.
This was the power of a <Cardinal>.
The authority of one of the pillars of the Goddess Church.
Even the strongest warrior would be reduced to a mere child in front of a Cardinal.
A single gesture could turn countless lives to dust and level mountains. Such was the immense power.
[To do this requires power equivalent to that of a Cardinal…!]
As he raised his blue sword, it resonated with the red gemstone ring, emitting a blinding light.
The dark blue smoke surrounding him transformed.
The previously strong blue smoke became transparent, almost disappearing.
Zagan had seen this once before.
Forty years ago.
When she caught a glimpse of the current Academia Headmaster casting magic. The same sensation of alarm as from back then prickled her skin.
Colorless, odorless.
Yet, the presence was undeniable.
Zagan knew what to call this state.
The other archbishops who saw that man’s achievement on the battlefield had said.
⎯He’s a human who has transcended mana. That man is dangerous.
Step.
That ominous footstep echoed through the nest.
Every time the man moved, his skin would be compressed or pinched as if something were grabbing and twisting him. His fingers bent backward.
What horrified Zagan wasn’t the fact that he could move despite such pain.
It was that he could move at all. That alone.
Step⎯
With just that <level of damage>, he could still approach.
The man’s lips curled into a long smile.
Far from being ferocious, his expression, which even had a noble air, made him seem menacing.
To think, just a mere toy. A single human being.
Bowing his head, yet showing such behavior before the archbishop…?
This wasn’t right…!
This… this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
[Wa-wait… just wait there for a moment.]
Zagan managed to let out a voice filled with urgency.
She had been making that sound for some time.
Her arms had all been cut off, making it impossible to wield the Judgement Weapon.
A magic cannon was also out of the question. She had already exhausted all the mana she had before her liberation. She couldn’t even regenerate, let alone muster the strength to use a magic cannon.
Even if she tried to resist with her legs, the white hands pulling her down prevented any movement. Her means of escape had become an obstacle.
[Stop… stop… I said stop!]
The man did not halt his steps.
He was now right in front of her, raising his sword high.
There was still no visible flow of mana, yet an immense amount of it was present there.
His lips moved.
Though he made no sound, she could read the shape of the words.
—So, I’m sending one of Amon’s underlings off like this.
How did he know the Cardinal’s name…?
No one should know His name.
Fear etched itself into Zagan’s body.
Was she going to die like this?
Her? The archbishop, dying?
In a place like this? Her? … her?
[S-s…]
A word Zagan had heard countless times escaped her lips. It was the word she loved the most, a word so familiar it had become tiresome.
Zagan, who used to mock the lowly beings, savoring their faces twisted in terror, now uttered it herself.
[Please… spare me….]
She had become one of those lowly beings.
Schwing⎯!
The sword struck down.
A red ring shattered.
00:02
Two seconds before Zagan could liberate her own authority.
Everything finally fell into place.
“……”
As Zagan’s neck sank to the ground, the space that had been gaping open closed, and the white hands all returned inside.
Vargan met the eyes that had been watching the entire scene from within. Those eyes were staring directly at him.
As if intrigued. Soon, they turned into an inverted crescent moon.
He greeted him.
***
The night after everything had ended and I returned to the Academia.
I was resting in the infirmary.
Though I temporarily elevated my mana to a transcendental level with the help of the ring and Naias, the Cardinal, Beleth’s authority was overwhelming.
Later, I found out that my entire body was covered in bruises, and there were even several areas where the flesh had been torn away. My blood vessels had burst and tangled together.
This happened because I tried to forcibly withstand transcendent-level mana while still being insufficiently accomplished.
After being treated, I found myself here, with Alicia, who had been fussing over me and crying all day, nearly being pushed out of the room.
… come to think of it, even Erica, whom I disliked, came for a visit since she was my fiancée. I never thought I’d see that side of Erica.
Others came as well, but the two who left the strongest impression were these two.
According to the professors, all four bodies, except for the one bishop-class being with a top hat, had exploded.
The only one who escaped was so fast that they lost track of him due to the urgent situation within the nest.
Anyway, that was that.
‘I obtained the first Judgement Weapon.’
A Judgement Weapon was a weapon that was like a part of the body of archbishops and higher-ranking Altifes. It was a bit different from the concept of simply carrying the object itself.
I looked at the blackened relic, Naias.
Its usual clear color had turned murky.
When I beheaded Zagan, it absorbed her Judgement Weapon.
This was also the reason why Liam continued to use Naias, a second-grade relic, until the very end of the novel.
Though the spirit died, reducing its power, it gained enough strength to offset that by beheading an archbishop.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t use the authority Zagan had, but the limit and power of the weapon had increased to a remarkable degree.
By now, Naias, who would usually be restlessly wandering about, was sleeping inside the sword.
After a few days, the sudden surge of power would stabilize, and Naias would awaken.
As I was thinking about future plans and upcoming schedules.
Clatter⎯!
A noisy sound announced the arrival of an uninvited guest.
It was the pathetic protagonist, wrapped head to toe in bandages.
“You’ve become quite unruly.”
Liam’s breathing was unsteady. His red eyes were swollen, likely from hours of crying or possibly because his blood vessels had burst.
His eyes were swimming in despair.
“To come to me like this without any sense, you must have a rather urgent matter or something important to say.”
Liam had taken a serious fall due to this incident.
He was teetering on the brink of never getting back up.
“… right?”
His mumbled words were so indistinct and faint that I couldn’t make them out.
I waited with a frown, and he finally managed to speak again.
“You’re… a possessor, right…? … aren’t you?”
Liam’s words had a note of desperation.
He continued.
“You’re a possessor like me! Just admit it⎯!”
I got up from the bed and approached him, who was alone and in a rush. Liam’s body was trembling uncontrollably, as if from the cold.
I let out a deep sigh.
“Ugh…!”
I struck Liam’s abdomen.
Liam, who was already severely injured, collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.
I spoke to the foolish guy.
This was faster than I originally planned, but I have to say it now.
“Yes.”
I could no longer stand by and watch his absurd behavior.
“I came from the world outside.”