A Villain's Guide to Saving the World-Chapter 41: The Great Villain! Stops Holding Back...?

Lucian raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You know, this might take the cake for craziest twist I’ve seen," he said with a laugh, twirling his hand. In a flicker of shadow, his halberd appeared, spinning once before landing firmly in his grasp.

"But still doesn’t top the danger scale," he added, his tone mockingly casual.

Behind him, the Third Prince eyed the massive weapon now in Lucian’s hands, clearly surprised.

"I figured you were more of a mage," he said with a chuckle, scanning the remaining assassins. "Not someone who swings around a halberd."

Lucian tossed his hair with a flick of his head. "I’m full of surprises."

He grinned, tightened his grip—and without waiting, charged straight at the crimson assassin.

The Third Prince sighed as Lucian broke formation, but followed suit, clashing with the rest of the assassins. The battlefield scattered in an instant, the two of them switching opponents without a word.

The crimson assassin met Lucian’s charge head-on, reverse-gripping a dagger. It clashed against the halberd with a clang that rang through the air, the assassin’s stance solid—unnaturally so.

Lucian chuckled under his breath, startled by the strength. "Aren’t you supposed to be an assassin?" he quipped, vaulting backward. "Not some dagger-wielding brute?"

Lately, every fight seemed to escalate.

Am I getting weaker, or are they all getting stronger?

It was a pattern—he’d crush his enemies, only to have someone else show up and steal the spotlight.

The assassin laughed, twirling the dagger lazily. "Why not be both?"

Then—he rushed in.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed.

Too direct. Why would he rush me like that? Unless—

He spun and cleaved behind him just in time—steel clashing with steel as a second version of the crimson assassin struck from the rear.

"How perceptive," the original said, calm and cold. "But that wasn’t a mirror image."

Lucian staggered as one kicked him away, the other stepping forward seamlessly. He cursed under his breath.

"Damn it."

He twisted mid-air, barely recovering, and intercepted the next attack—again from behind.

"Don’t forget about me!" the assassin taunted playfully.

Lucian sighed.

Clones. Or shadows. Whatever it is, this guy’s a pain in the ass.

With a chuckle, he shifted his grip, twisting the halberd to slam the butt of it into the clone’s chest. He spun again, thrusting behind him, trying to catch the original—but it was deflected with ease.

The assassin used Lucian’s own weapon as leverage to launch himself forward, closing the gap unnaturally fast.

Lucian let go of the halberd mid-movement, clenched his fist, and twisted with a brutal punch to the gut of the assassin that had crept up behind him. Then, in a blink, he let the shadows swallow his legs, slipping through the ground and reappearing several meters back.

He straightened, stretching his arms wide as he summoned the halberd back with a whisper of darkness.

"You’re clever. I’ll give you that," Lucian called out, grinning. "But you’re still not the toughest I’ve fought."

From across the courtyard, both versions of the assassin slowly circled, in perfect unison—smirking behind the same golden mask.

Lucian glanced over his shoulder, checking on the Third Prince. The royal was making short work of the remaining assassins, his sword flashing with precision, his voice carrying sharp commands that resonated with his vocal dominion.

Good. He just needed to stall a bit longer. Once they were both free, they could deal with this gold-masked nightmare together.

"Hey..." Lucian said, his voice low and amused.

Both gold-masked assassins responded in unison, voices dripping with mockery.

"What?"

Lucian flashed a wicked grin and gave a dramatic thumbs-down, his smile oozing mischief.

The two assassins tilted their heads in perfect sync—just as the earth beneath one of them erupted.

With a roar, the abyssal snake from earlier burst from the ground, coiled in rage, and swallowed one of the figures whole in a single, violent snap.

The remaining assassin watched, unfazed. In fact, he even started clapping, slow and deliberate.

"Impressive," he said with a laugh, twirling his dagger between his fingers.

Then, with a shimmer of light and a shift in weight, the dagger morphed—elongating into a sleek, cruel-looking spear.

"But I’m afraid I don’t have time to see more of your little tricks."

Behind him, the snake thrashed violently, its body twisting as if something inside was still fighting—fury and agony laced into every movement. The clone, it seemed, wasn’t gone just yet.

The assassin didn’t look back. He simply chuckled again, his golden mask gleaming beneath the broken moonlight.

"Don’t you agree?"

Lucian cracked his knuckles, the sound sharp in the charged air.

Every fight lately had followed the same cycle—crush the fodder, then scramble to adapt when the real threat revealed itself.

But what if, just this once... he skipped the strategy?

What if he ended it all with sheer, overwhelming power?

"You know what...?" he muttered, his smirk curling once more.

"Sure~" he added, voice oozing amusement.

With a casual snap of his fingers, his halberd vanished in a blink. A second later, his Codex shimmered and faded from sight as well.

The gold-masked assassin blinked, genuinely confused. "Planning a suicide?" he sneered, tightening his grip on the spear as he shifted into a combat stance.

Lucian didn’t answer right away. He just slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants and began walking forward—calm, deliberate.

"Maybe..." he said lightly.

"Maybe not..."

But then, something changed.

The amusement drained from his voice, replaced by a chilling edge—cruel, resolute.

"System," he whispered.

"Go crazy~"

He hadn’t used everything since he fought the Hero.

The crimson assassin wasn’t on that level—

—but he was done pretending he cared about levels.

A glowing panel appeared in front of him with a soft chime.

[Activate all Dominions?]

Lucian gave a simple nod.

That was all it took.

The world seemed to hold its breath.

Power surged around him in a violent rush—his body glowing with raw energy as the very air grew dense and oppressive. The grass beneath his feet withered into dust, and the ground trembled in anticipation.

He raised his chin, his eyes now cold and alight with magic, burning violet and black at the edges.

"Want to be a villain?" he asked, voice dripping with magic and menace.

"Then I’ll show you one."