The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 18

We emerged from the darkness and hurried straight toward the souvenir shop.

Inside, chaos had erupted. It was clear this had been a planned assault—screams rang out from every direction, and the sounds of fighting never stopped.

Civilians, panicked by the sudden attack, ran aimlessly in all directions.

“Move!”

“Help me!”

People weren’t even looking where they were going, constantly crashing into one another. If someone fell, no one stopped to help—they were trampled without hesitation. Pained screams were drowned out by a stampede of footsteps.

No one had the luxury to assess their surroundings.

One wrong step here, and it would be over.

“Unni...”

I could feel Ba Da’s tiny hand trembling in mine. I tightened my grip so she wouldn’t fall and wouldn’t feel scared.

“Outta the way, brats!”

We were nearing the end of the corridor when a man shoved past us with his arm and ran ahead.

Our hands were ripped apart. Ba Da shrieked and stumbled backward, falling onto her butt.

I moved in a flash and caught her in my arms.

Whew. Good thing I was fast enough.

I frowned at the man’s retreating back. He turned a corner and disappeared.

Three seconds later, his scream echoed out, followed by the splatter of blood against the wall.

Ba Da flinched at the sight.

Her face went pale, and her body trembled violently.

Step... Step...

A shadow stretched across the wall. A figure emerged from the corner.

He was dressed the same as the ones I’d just fought.

A member of the Black Crows.

About ten of them this time. More than before. And worse, I couldn’t move the same way with Ba Da here. What should I do...?

“Target located. Continuing the mission.”

In that instant, the emergency lights illuminating the corner flickered and shut off—plunging us into darkness.

They were inside the dark.

A sound of blades being drawn rang out, giving me no time to think.

“Lily... what do we do...?”

Ba Da’s voice trembled even more.

Yeah, good question. What do we do.

Suddenly, I heard someone sprinting toward us from behind.

“You bastards! I won’t forgive you!”

At first, I thought it was another enemy and braced myself, but thankfully, it wasn’t. The person who rushed past us held a weapon.

Judging by the outfit, they were a Fixer employed by this place.

Ba Da’s expression brightened a little, knowing someone had come to help.

The Fixer threw themselves into the fray and began fighting the Black Crows with all they had.

But as I watched their movements, I frowned.

There’s no way they’ll win this.

Should I use this chance to escape? No. With that skill level, they can’t even buy time. We’ll be chased down in seconds. In that case... maybe it’s better to just take them all out right here and push through...

There was no choice but to gamble.

I steeled myself and shook Ba Da’s shoulder, snapping her out of her daze.

She looked at me, red-rimmed eyes showing how scared she was. Her once-neat blue hair was now messy and tangled.

I gently wiped the heavy tears from her eyes with my finger and smoothed out her hair.

Then I motioned for her to close her eyes for about 30 seconds.

Normally she would’ve asked why, but maybe the situation was too overwhelming for her to think clearly—she followed my instruction without question, covering her eyes with both hands.

Then she started counting softly.

“One... two... three...”

So far, so good.

I rose to my feet and launched myself forward toward the enemies.

“Uaargh—!”

Just as I predicted, the Fixer let out a short, dying scream after being struck.

The moment they dropped their weapon, I snatched it mid-air and slashed at the nearest enemy in one smooth motion.

“Ghak!”

Startled gasps rippled through the group.

I guess seeing a kid move like that was a shock even for them.

I didn’t waste the opening. I pressed forward with more attacks. They finally snapped out of it and tried to react to me.

Amidst the flickering emergency lights and the clang of metal, I quickly cut them down one by one.

None of their attacks even grazed me, and every slash I dealt landed critically.

Ten seconds passed.

Every enemy was down.

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Good thing none of them were strong enough to need me to go all out.

Minimal use of mana. Just basic physical enhancement had been enough.

I turned back to Ba Da, who had reached the count of 18. I was about to tell her she could open her eyes when—

Click.

A strange sound made me whip my head around.

One of them was still standing.

He was still alive?

I thought I’d finished them all.

He barely clung to life, swaying as he stood, looking like he could collapse any second.

But I couldn’t let my guard down.

I moved to finish it.

But before I could, he slammed both arms together and raised them toward us.

There was a mechanical sound—his arms transformed in an instant into a cannon. From the barrel, a sinister red glow lit up.

Shit!

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion followed as he fired.

I angled the sword in my hand and deflected the shell, redirecting it behind me. A massive explosion erupted in the distance, sending a blast of hot wind through the hallway.

My silver hair whipped in the wind.

Just as he tried to prepare another shot—

I hurled my sword.

Thud!

It struck his head dead center. The red light in the barrel went dark.

The emergency lights flickered back on.

Whew.

Thankfully, it looked like Ba Da had followed my instructions to the letter.

“W-What happened...?”

I poked her soft cheek a few times to let her know it was safe to open her eyes.

Slowly, she peeked them open.

“Eek...”

Her face went pale at the sight of the corpses sprawled across the floor.

She didn’t faint, at least. That’s something.

A regular kid would’ve burst into tears, but for people growing up in this generation, it was a familiar scene.

Still, being used to something didn’t make it any less awful. Ba Da staggered in shock.

I caught her before she could fall. Then I gestured to her that we should hurry back to Red.

Ba Da nodded with a heavy breath.

“Y-Yeah... U-Unni... we have to go back to Unni...”

Just as I took her hand again and was about to lead her away—

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She suddenly stopped.

Her gaze was fixed on the dead Fixer.

I told her, through gestures, that he’d protected us with his life.

Understanding what I meant, Ba Da’s expression turned solemn.

“I see...”

She closed her eyes.

A quiet tribute to the one who had saved her life.

There was no need to tell her the truth.

That would help neither her... nor him.

We quickly set off again.

*

“Unniiiiii!!”

“Ba Da!”

Thankfully, we ran into Red and the others on the way.

Red opened her arms wide, and Ba Da ran straight into them. Red embraced her tightly.

Maybe she’d been holding it in this whole time—Ba Da burst into tears and cried loudly in Red’s arms.

Red kept patting her back, whispering “It’s okay” over and over.

The other kids were sniffling too.

So she can make that kind of face too, huh...

I was silently surprised by Red’s expression. Maybe she noticed my gaze.

She glanced at me, then suddenly reached out her arm—and just like that, I got pulled into her hug too.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, Lily. Really, really glad...”

I squirmed, embarrassed and trying to get out of her grip, but there was no escaping those arms.

Fine. Do whatever you want.

I raised the white flag and let her hold me. I felt her hand patting my back gently.

It felt... strange.

Embarrassing—but not unpleasant.

“Let’s get moving. No one leaves my side, got it?”

The kids nodded.

We started moving again.

It was complete chaos out there, but the kids endured it just because Red was with them. That alone gave them strength.

I hoped nothing else would happen, but—of course—the moment I thought that, more trouble came crashing in.

“Prioritize the target!”

Several members of the Black Crows came charging in, aiming for the kids.

Red reacted instantly, blocking them before they could lay a finger on anyone.

They didn’t stand a chance against her.

“You think you can touch them in front of me?”

But the enemies didn’t give up.

Every time they saw us, they ignored everything else and charged straight for us.

That behavior made me uneasy.

Why are they only targeting the kids?

They were relentless in going after the children.

They didn’t even care about Red.

Why? Why are they after these kids? Who sent them?

Red seemed to be thinking the same thing, but there was no time to figure it out. She was too busy protecting everyone.

And it’s not like I could use my power here either.

For now, I decided to keep observing.

As we moved a bit further, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded.

There had to be at least fifty of them now.

We’re completely surrounded.

“Unni...”

“Noona...”

The kids were trembling with fear.

“Tch.”

Red clicked her tongue in irritation.

Not because they were too many to handle.

Even if their numbers were ten times this, they wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

But she had to protect the kids while fighting, and that made things complicated.

What now?

The enemies all took their stances at once. They were clearly about to charge in.

Guess I’ll have to step in... huh? That mana—

Just as I was wondering whether I should make a move, I felt a strange mana signature close by.

I turned my head.

Red noticed it too and looked in the same direction.

For just a moment, both of our attentions shifted.

The enemies didn’t miss that opening. They launched themselves toward us all at once.

But it didn’t matter.

From the direction where the mana had come from, a strong wind suddenly swept through.

““Kyaaah—!””

The children screamed in surprise.

It was a cold wind.

The gust was so strong they had to shut their eyes. I didn’t have a problem thanks to my mask.

When they opened their eyes again, their jaws dropped in awe.

“Wow~ It’s sparkling...”

“It’s like snow is falling!”

Yeah, it really did look like that.

Tiny crystals of ice floated through the air around us.

They caught the light, glittering like stars.

The kids were mesmerized.

As they exhaled, small puffs of white breath escaped their mouths.

The chill lingered in the air.

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More importantly... what about the enemies...

I turned my gaze to them.

Every single one of them was frozen solid. Literal ice sculptures.

I looked around again and heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Isaac...”

I heard Red mutter his name.

Judging from her tone, he wasn’t exactly a welcome sight.

A man with a neatly tied ponytail walked toward us. He was good-looking—annoyingly so.

His face lit up with surprise and delight at seeing Red.

“Never thought I’d run into you in a place like this. Is this what they call fate? I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”