The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 162

The rain that seemed like it would pour all night is letting up.

The lightning that questioned Mikhail’s nightmares has disappeared, and the torrents of rain that screamed at the past nightmares being awakened have fallen silent.

The tide shifted with the arrival of one man.

The man who toyed with Mikhail using words as sharp as an awl, the priests of the heretics who obstructed Hanna’s path—all of them stood frozen in place with the appearance of the man wearing a black mask.

“Hmm.”

I looked at the man in front of me and asked in a low voice.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

The voice that spread through the subsiding rain was not directed solely at the man.

The heretic believers confronting Hanna, Mikhail standing with his sword, and even Yuria, who was healing Mikhail with protection magic.

It was a statement meant for everyone present here.

The man before me stood awkwardly, holding a dagger in his hand. If he swung it just once, he could surely cut off Mikhail’s breath.

He trusted in his own skills, and I, knowing his abilities from the novel, could understand his hesitation.

The archbishop before him possessed a power that could not be easily ignored.

He stood still, gripping his dagger.

Mikhail did the same.

With his recovering strength, he adjusted his grip on his sword and infused it with an aura that shimmered like a mirage.

Annoyed by the seemingly endless battle, I spoke with irritation.

“This can’t go on.”

I walked slowly between them.

“You need to clock out.”

I walked between them as calmly as a lion stalking its prey, ready to pounce at the slightest movement.

I walked between the heretics and Mikhail.

The heretics wouldn’t remember my presence. Neither my existence nor my voice—all their testimonies would differ.

The mask I wore was one of the heretics’ fortuitous encounters, creating fragments of memory.

It didn’t have a fraudulent effect of distorting memories. The mask I wore was simply an artifact that demonstrated its power in the fundamental realm of perception.

The ability related to memory was the dark magic used by the archbishop standing before me.

Still, this mask alone was enough to conceal my existence, so it wasn’t lacking. Because of it, I spoke to the man in front of me without hesitation.

Asking if he wanted to die.

“If you want to walk away in one piece, leave now.”

The man let out an empty laugh and shook his head.

“Yeah, I should leave if I want to live, but I feel like today’s my only chance to kill that guy.”

“There are ways to resolve this without killing him.”

“But I doubt that guy would let me live.”

The man said as he looked at Mikhail.

Mikhail, who was brimming with determination and exuding an aura like a mirage, was like the eye of a storm.

The man clicked his tongue as he observed Mikhail, who had grown monstrously strong in such a short time.

“He’s already grown this much. Do you think he’ll leave me alone the next time we meet?”

Seeing Mikhail gripping his sword with an intensity that seemed ready to explode, I nodded with an intriguing smile.

“That’s true.”

“So, if I don’t kill him today, I’ll end up dead…”

“Then you’ll die by my hand.”

The man muttered to himself, “That’s why this is driving me crazy,” and roughly ran his hand through his hair.

“Can’t you just let this slide?”

“Could you not act familiar with me? This is our first meeting.”

“…”

“What? Do you know me?”

“…Kids these days have no manners.”

I smiled brightly at the man and replied.

“So what?”

Personally, I hoped that today would mark the end of their relationship.

The man before me and I shared a rather unpleasant connection.

-Kiddo, are you some kind of killing machine? Why are you so good with a sword?

-My runaway mother raised me. Jealous?

-Ha… You son of a b*.

The fact that the dark magic he used was related to memory, and that in the latter part of the novel, his strength reached quasi-apostle level, made him a particularly troublesome existence.

It wasn’t like I could just kill him either.

[Q. Mikhail’s Guardian.]

Due to a quest that suddenly appeared, I was bound by a restriction that prevented me from killing the man before me. Considering the story ahead and the substantial rewards of the quest, it wasn’t a bad trade-off.

Although the novel didn’t clearly detail the relationship between Mikhail and the High Priest of Oblivion, the man’s existence was necessary for Mikhail’s growth.

A brief silence fell.

The archbishop and Mikhail stared at me. Receiving such attention after so long made my face feel hot.

If this continued, I might start dreaming of becoming an idol—a job that didn’t exist in this world. Slowly, I opened my mouth.

“Shouldn’t you be leaving soon?”

“Why? No matter how strong you are, I think I’d have enough time to kill him and escape.”

“Care to try?”

“…”

At the man’s provocation, I shrugged my shoulders and responded.

“Go ahead. I think it’ll be fun.”

If he could’ve done it, he would’ve done so already.

In the novel, Mikhail only suffered a critical injury and collapsed, so I wasn’t worried. There was an excellent healer nearby, and I wouldn’t let it happen anyway.

The man stared at his dagger for a long time, lost in thought.

“What a scary bastard.”

Shaking off the oppressive killing intent weighing on his shoulders, the man scoffed.

“Where do monsters like you even come from?”

“From home. I came to work.”

“Right. Where’s home?”

“In a sunny place.”

To his casual question, thrown out for the sake of retaliation, I responded with an empty laugh and a light answer.

After a moment of deliberation, the man shook his head, placed the dagger back into his inner pocket, and turned around.

“Let’s go.”

The man spoke softly to the heretics confronting Hanna.

“If we stay any longer, we’ll only lose out.”

“A wise choice.”

“The Imperial Knights’ Order… You called them, didn’t you?”

“Of course. Because of what happened at the academy, the knight commander seemed very eager to meet the heretics.”

“Histania…?”

The man let out an empty laugh and shuddered.

He must’ve known that the Head of Histania was someone who couldn’t be reasoned with.

-Plod.

-Plod.

-Plod.

Stopping in his tracks, the man smiled faintly and spoke.

“Still, wouldn’t it be a shame to leave just like this?”

The man swiftly swung his sword at Mikhail.

Mikhail, wide-eyed and frozen in place, stared at the sword energy slicing through the air. Yuria, too, screamed “Mikhail!” in a dying scream and quickly conjured a shield, but it wasn’t enough to block the man’s attack.

The sharp blade aimed straight for Mikhail’s chest.

With the man’s laughter of exhilaration ringing out, a cold voice whispered chillingly into his ear.

“Do you want to die?”

“…Wow.”

The man gasped in shock as he stared at his disappeared self—his missing right hand.

“Crazy bastard.”

The devotees of the heretics blocked my path to protect the archbishop. The sound of blades dancing and the dull thuds of bodies falling echoed incessantly in the man’s ears.

With a small smile, I flicked the blood off my sword. The man let out an empty laugh as he noticed the bloodstains on his face.

“Haha, damn it…”

As he awkwardly smiled at the sight of his fallen subordinates, I exuded killing intent and slowly approached him.

“I told you to leave. Why don’t you listen?”

“I didn’t think it would come to this.”

Black smoke began to rise from the man’s body, curling like heatwaves.

I nodded at the man’s magic and quietly observed.

“Oh-ho…”

The man’s name was ‘Yung.’

Among the heretics, he held the position known as the ‘High Priest of Oblivion.’

True to his title, he was a dark sorcerer who manipulated and altered people’s memories, serving as a high-ranking official of the heretics.

He possessed an absurd ability to leave someone with their worst nightmare or their greatest joyous bliss.

Though it was merely editing existing memories, the impact was tremendous.

Of course, being someone who disliked complicated tasks, he usually limited himself to altering memories about himself or a benefactor. However, his most dreadful secret technique could revert someone’s memories to their very beginning.

In the past, he had used dark magic on me, but thanks to a fortuitous encounter I had prepared as insurance, he failed.

A possessor always needed to carry at least one item to protect their body, so naturally, I was able to block his magic.

Now, he wouldn’t be able to bypass my resistance. There was no need to worry.

The man smiled as he looked at me.

The strands of mana emanating from him began to slowly engulf everyone in the forest, extending to erase the memory of his existence.

I stood still, receiving the approaching cloud of mana.

“The fine dust is quite thick today.”

With a small cough, I watched the man retreat through the smoke that spread outward.

‘That’s it for today.’

-Ding.

Nodding at the faint sound of the alarm, I marked the end of the battle.

*

In the Forest of Hamel, where the man had departed,

a heavy atmosphere lingered.

I began to remove my mask. My sweat-soaked hair fell stylishly, catching the gazes of the ladies who were captivated by my appearance.

“…Or maybe not.”

Once again, they looked at me with suspicious eyes, even though I had arrived at a dramatic moment.

Shrugging my shoulders, I said,

“So, how was the world’s coolest butler’s mad movie?”

Their expressions were indescribable.

Hanna stomped her feet as if she wanted to hug me right away, while Yuria blinked at me with her flushed eyes.

And Mikhail…

“Don’t act so smug.”

…as always, disliked me.