I Am a Villain, So What?-Chapter 146: Root of Decay [1]

"Stop, stop, everyone," Kael raised his hand. "We all have the same questions. That’s why we took the risk and followed, right? To find the truth."

Mariella, now completely deflated, hid behind Kael’s back.

"Elisha’s scary when she’s obsessed."

Kael patted Mariella’s head.

"Let’s just find out what Lucien is trying to do here. If he’s meeting someone dangerous, we intervene. If he’s just... sightseeing, we apologize and leave."

That was the conclusion.

Just then—

CRACK!

A sharp sound echoed through the trees.

"Kael!"

Princess Celestia, who had been walking silently at the rear, cast an [Ice Shield] in an instant.

Clang!

A clear, ringing sound reverberated as a metal object deflected off the ice, spinning into a nearby tree trunk.

Kael, reacting a split second late, drew his sword.

"Enemy attack! Sniper!"

"Tch, I can’t see them!" Bordon shouted, raising his shield.

Mariella pulled out a high-quality telescope crafted with Arlon engineering. She frantically scanned the distant ridgeline.

Through the lens, she saw him.

Perched on a high cliff, cloaked in the shadows of the canopy, was Lucien Ashborne.

He was aiming a long rifle. His eyes, glowing with a faint blue light, seemed to look directly through the telescope, straight into her soul.

"Eeek!"

Mariella felt the absurd sensation of their eyes meeting across a kilometer.

"C-Cadet Lucien has spotted us!"

BANG!

Another bullet came flying.

Bordon stepped in front of Mariella and Elisha, his massive shield raised. It was an instinctive move to protect the healers.

But the bullet curved.

It bypassed the shield entirely, banking off a rock and targeting only one person.

Kael.

"Ugh? Why just me?!"

Kael swung his sword, slicing the bullet out of the air.

Clang!

The force was negligible. It stung his hand, but it wasn’t lethal.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three more shots.

All of them aimed at Kael’s feet, kicking up dirt and forcing him to dance back.

"Is it over?" Elisha whispered, peeking out from behind a tree.

Silence returned to the forest.

Kael lowered his sword, gritting his teeth. He looked at the shattered remains of the bullets on the ground.

’He’s holding back!’

Kael knew Lucien’s true strength better than anyone. He had seen the devastation at the Theme Park. He had seen the crater left by the "Unknown Sniper" at the lab.

’A skill like Lucien’s wouldn’t make such weak attacks!’

If Lucien had put real power into those bullets—if he had used [Divine Bullets] or even standard armor-piercing rounds—Kael knew he would be dead. Or at least severely injured.

The fact that he targeted only the "Leader" and used non-lethal force...

"A warning," Kael muttered, sheathing his sword. "He’s telling us to go home."

"He knew we were coming," Celestia noted, her voice cold. "He was waiting for us."

Honestly, they should turn back. They had been caught red-handed.

But the human heart doesn’t always follow warnings. Especially not the heart of a Hero who feels like he’s being left behind.

"We keep going," Kael said, staring up at the cliff where Lucien had vanished. "Now I’m sure of it. He’s hiding something big."

*****

’Ugh, they’re ridiculously strong.’

I lowered the Winchester, clicking my tongue as I watched the Protagonist Party through the scope. To think they could so easily deflect a supersonic sniper round, even without me using Merle’s new Magic Bullets. Kael’s reaction speed and Celestia’s instant casting were monstrous.

I slung the rifle over my shoulder and climbed down from the Owl’s Perch.

Oliver was waiting at the base of the cliff, hugging his knees.

"Was it... was it really Cadet Kael? And the heirs of the Great Ducal Families? And the Princess?!" Oliver stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Yeah," I said, brushing dirt off my coat. "You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to."

"I believe you! It’s your word, Cadet Lucien."

Oliver adjusted his round glasses. He was smart enough to guess why they had followed us. He knew my reputation, and he knew why the "Heroes" of the Academy would be stalking the "Trash."

"You’re being watched by everyone," Oliver muttered softly, looking down at his boots. "But... if you get to know him, Cadet Lucien is really a good person..."

I stopped walking and glared at him over my shoulder.

"I’m not a good person, Oliver. Don’t delude yourself."

Oliver flinched, shrinking back. "Y-Yeah... You are... not. Very evil. Super scary."

"...."

I sighed and motioned for him to lead the way.

We searched for a while longer, venturing deeper into Sector 4. The vibrant greens of the Ecological Park slowly began to mute, replaced by an eerie, unnatural silence. The ambient mana in the air felt stagnant.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A small, emerald-green woodpecker made of pure mana fluttered down from the canopy, landing on Oliver’s outstretched finger. The Druid closed his eyes, communing with his familiar.

A second later, his eyes snapped open. The color completely drained from his face.

"Huh?! N-No way!"

The moment I saw Oliver’s face contort into sheer panic and shock, I knew we’d found it.

"C-C-Cadet Lucien! Over there! The mana... the ecosystem is completely dead! It’s a void!"

"Where’s the Dungeon, Oliver?"

"O-Over there—wait, you knew?!" Oliver gasped, stumbling backward. "You knew there was a Dungeon here?!"

"That’s why I came here in the first place."

****

Oliver led me through a thicket of razor-ferns. The dense vegetation, which had been like an impassable jungle moments ago, suddenly gave way to a dead clearing.

It was a place where a massive, suffocating chaos loomed.

The air itself was twisted like a mirage over a hot desert. It was a dark spatial fracture where time and space ignored the laws of physics, tangling and distorting into a chaotic, swirling mess of sickly purple and black energy.

"Ugh... ugh... a real Dungeon Gate! And it’s an Unregistered one!" Oliver panicked, his hands trembling as he reached into his pocket. "W-We need to report this right away! I have an emergency flare—"

I grabbed his wrist, stopping his hand before he could pull the artifact out.

"Cadet Lucien?" Oliver squeaked.

"I’m going to conquer it."

"What?! Alone?! That’s impossible! This mana density is at least an A-Rank hazard!" Oliver jumped in protest, trying to pull his arm free.

But I had already made up my mind. I hadn’t come this far, manipulated this kid, and shot at the Protagonist Party just to back down now. I would conquer this dungeon, claim the Primordial artifact, and reap the System rewards. No matter what.

"Just in case I take too long, you stay here and act as a lookout," I ordered, letting go of his wrist.

"Wait a second! Cadet Lucien! You can’t—"

Ignoring Oliver’s cries, I turned and plunged directly into the swirling vortex of the [Root of Decay].

VWOOM.

A nauseating sensation washed over me instantly, as if time and space were warping and my body and mind were being stretched on a rack.

When my vision finally cleared, the first thing that greeted me was a searing, pungent stench. It smelled of sulfur, rotting meat, and thousands of years of decay.

Hiss.

A burning sensation enveloped my entire body. My skin felt like it was being pricked by microscopic needles of fire.

[WARNING: Highly Corrosive Atmosphere Detected!]

My instincts screamed at me to take cover.

CREAAAK.

A deafening groan echoed above me. Following my combat instincts, I hurled myself forward, rolling through the sludge.

CRASH!

A massive, decaying tree slammed down exactly where I had been standing a second ago. Upon hitting the ground, the wood instantly turned into black, bubbling rot, melting away like sugar in boiling water.

’This is... the Ecological Park?’

I looked around. It was the Ecological Park. But it was dead. The entire forest was rotting. The sky was a sickly, bruised yellow. The atmosphere was so acidic it felt like it would melt the flesh right off my bones if I breathed too deeply.

"System."

[Equipping: Shadow-Weave Tactical Suit]

Pitch-black nanite-like material poured from my inventory, immediately enveloping my body like liquid smoke. It formed a sleek, tactical trench coat, reinforced combat boots, and a specialized lower-face respirator mask that filtered out the toxins.

I looked less like an Academy Cadet and more like a professional cleaner from an underworld syndicate.

Only then did the burning sensation stop, my HP bar stabilizing.

"Cadet Lucien!"

A terrified scream echoed behind me.

I spun around. The spatial gate rippled, and Cadet Oliver tumbled out of the void.

’Damn it!’

Of all places, the gate spat him out directly above a crumbling ravine. Oliver was falling straight toward a massive puddle of bubbling, green corrosive acid.

I didn’t think. I triggered [Adrenaline Surge] and leaped like a predator snatching its prey. I caught Oliver mid-air by his collar, twisting my body to take the impact as we crashed onto a solid ridge, skidding through the mud.

"Cadet Oliver! I told you to stay put!" I barked, coughing up a cloud of toxic dust.

"B-But! It’s dangerous! I couldn’t let you—How could... ah..." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Oliver froze.

His voice caught in his throat. He wasn’t looking at me. He was staring past my shoulder, his moss-green eyes wide with an absolute, primal terror.

I slowly turned my head to look at what had paralyzed him.

Looming in the center of the rotting valley, piercing the sickly yellow clouds, was a monster.

"What the fuck is that..." Oliver whispered, his voice completely hollow.