The Villainess Whom I Had Served for 13 Years Has Fallen

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 192

I am terrified right now.

“Is it you?”

‘Damn.’

“The person this kid is looking for.”

An insurmountable wall stood before my eyes.

It was my first time seeing the Archbishop.

No, to be precise, it was my first time seeing the villain who would become the Archbishop.

Name: Yung Lv. 48

Job: Apprentice Priest

Favorability: 10

Preferred conversation topics: Isolation/Revenge/Memory/Killing with the hands of a loved one/Severance/Threat to Life/Unattainable Love/Bloodshed/Hardships.

Such grotesque topics.

The malice he exuded.

Everything was a first for me.

I thought I had encountered many villains while crawling through the slums, but none of them compared to the man before me.

Those villains at least had the goal of money, but this guy was a villain who killed people purely for his own amusement. The malice he radiated was so overwhelming that even the delinquents roaming the slums seemed laughable in comparison, and my shoulders trembled.

It felt utterly overwhelming.

The way to escape.

The way to resolve this situation didn’t come to mind. No matter how much of an Apprentice Priest I was, my power was nothing more than child’s play in front of this man who would become an Archbishop.

It was absurd for a snot-nosed child like me to face an Archbishop who could easily outmatch a knight. Sure, I was physically and mentally superior compared to other kids, but that was only within the standards of being a child.

I was too weak to do anything, and even if I tried, I knew nothing would change. Honestly, I thought running away was the only answer.

Otherwise, I would die.

The High Priest of Oblivion was the worst antagonist in the novel.

He wielded a fragmentary power that manipulated the concept of memory and used it to twist people’s memories, making them kill their own family with their own hands. He was someone Mikhail despised the most, and even I had hoped never to encounter him.

It was a scale that didn’t even need weighing.

I had to run away immediately; it was a desperate situation where survival was at stake.

This wasn’t the time to stand there blankly. It was the moment to abandon Mikhail and run, I shouted to myself.

‘Run away.’

‘Mikhail is the protagonist anyway, so he’ll survive….’

‘Damn, you’re just an extra. A nobody.’

‘So, move already….’

The risk of protecting Mikhail was far too great for me to bear.

But you know.

My damn legs wouldn’t move. It was as if someone had glued my feet to the ground. My mind screamed at me to run, but my damn legs shouted back to stay put.

I let out a deep sigh and said.

“Let go.”

Gathering every ounce of petty courage I had in my chest, I spoke as calmly as I could.

“I said, let go.”

No matter how I looked at it, I thought I was being a push-over. What was so special about Mikhail that I was doing this? Even when I asked myself, I couldn’t find an answer.

Like a push-over.

Even after hearing hurtful words, I thought abandoning him like this wasn’t something an adult should do.

Wouldn’t it be a waste? I’ve fed and sheltered him until now. A future where I could gain great wealth through impressive connections was right in front of me, and letting him go like this felt like a waste.

I stayed put, convincing myself with reasons I could accept. If I didn’t, I might have run away immediately.

Even if it made me look selfish, I couldn’t help it. This was the only way I could muster courage and find solace.

Suppressing my trembling heart, I slowly approached Yung.

“You don’t like it, do you? I said, let go.”

The only thing I could grab was a thin wooden stick.

It wasn’t a holy sword or a sharp blade, just a wooden stick that looked like it could snap at any moment. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t a fight I intended to win anyway.

Holding back my trembling breath, I gave Mikhail a gentle smile.

It’s okay now.

Mikhail’s eyes, which met mine, began to shake violently.

“…”

Was it relief he felt? I hoped so.

I didn’t know what Mikhail’s emotions were at the moment, but I was relieved that they weren’t negative.

It was a relief.

That he wasn’t sulking at me.

I thought he’d be upset at me for saying something harsh like, ‘Take care of it yourself,’ but I was relieved that feeling didn’t last long.

Yung was quietly observing me.

He seemed to be thinking about how to toy with me, wearing an intriguing smile as he watched me approach slowly.

It seemed he was intrigued by how I approached him without fear. A normal child would have been frightened or run away at the sight of their friend being tormented.

I calmly looked at the man before me and said.

“What are you looking at?”

“…Haha.”

“Haven’t you seen a handsome face before?”

“Interesting.”

“I find your face more interesting. No matter how I look at it, you seem like you’re in your fifties.”

“You’re trembling with fear, yet your mouth is still alive.”

“Would you rather it be dead?”

‘Filthily perceptive.’

It was clear that in his mind, there was no bright and cheerful future where he spared me. Judging by the way he fiddled with the dagger at his waist, it seemed like he was preparing to carve me up.

Since I was going to be robbed anyway, I figured I might as well run my mouth to feel a little better, so I spoke to him with all the words I could muster.

“Let that kid go.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

-Squeeze…

Yung began to strangle Mikhail’s neck with great force. Mikhail writhed on the ground in pain, struggling to escape the man’s grip.

Mikhail shouted at me.

“Run away…!”

I picked at my ear and replied.

“What are you saying? Where would I go without you?”

“I said, run away…!”

“No. I can’t run away.”

Smiling faintly, I looked at the man exuding an eerie energy and said.

“It’s already f*cked.”

If I was going to run, I should’ve done it earlier. If he was going to tell me, he should’ve said it sooner instead of embarrassing me.

I slowly pointed the tip of the wooden stick toward the man. I had to do my best with what I had now.

The outcome was obvious, but doing something was better than doing nothing. And who was I? Wasn’t I the possessor who made the impossible possible? As someone who created many variables, I had already devised a way to overcome this situation in my mind.

Of course, sacrifices would accompany those variables.

Gripping the wooden stick tightly in my hand, I gathered my strength.

[Limit Break tests the limits of ‘Physical Strength.’]

[Limit Break tests the limits of ‘Genius of Weaponry.’]

[Limit Break tests…]

·

·

·

Perhaps the so-called god had created me as a disposable tool for this very moment.

I silently mouthed to Mikhail.

‘It’s okay.’

I’ll figure something out.

Just like I always have, I’ll find a way.

I spoke briefly to the man.

“Let go of that hand. This is your last chance.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Then I have no choice.”

I kicked off the ground and charged forward.

With the weight of life hanging on the scale of a predetermined outcome, I prayed for it to tip even slightly in my favor.

*

The Archbishop of Oblivion, Yung, watched the boy throwing punches with an intriguing smile.

Adopting a strange stance and extending his fist.

The boy sharply lunged in to grab the collar whenever a small opening appeared.

Judging by his movements, he seemed to have learned martial arts from a young age, as he displayed a rather tricky martial technique.

-Clang.

Yung, unable to fathom how such strength could come from such a small body, smiled faintly as he observed the boy.

‘Interesting.’

The wooden stick the boy held had long since broken. With a single strike, he had brought it down on Yung’s wrist.

‘I didn’t expect him to target my wrist.’

The boy had aimed the stick at the wrist pinning down the kid named Mikhail. Yung had assumed he could easily handle an attack from a slum kid, but his judgment had been gravely mistaken.

-Got it…!

-?!

-Thwack…!

From the start, the boy didn’t seem to intend to use the stick as a weapon. It appeared he had planned to use it as a means to separate Mikhail from Yung.

Yung smiled faintly as he looked at Mikhail, who was panting heavily.

“Huff… Huff…”

It seemed he still needed more time to regain his composure. That was a good sign. It was better for Yung’s scenario to keep that kid around.

He wanted to feel extreme despair.

“What are you looking at, like some playboy?”

-Thwack…!

Yung caught the boy’s incoming fist and smirked wickedly.

His wrist, struck by the kid, throbbed with a dull ache. Judging by the pain, his bone might have cracked from the initial attack. Yung clenched his teeth as the rising pain made it difficult to exert strength in his right hand.

‘Interesting.’

He wanted to instill despair in the boy who was fighting him with a blazing determination.

Something even more stimulating.

He wanted to create future repercussions for himself.

Yung had always enjoyed the thrill of revenge. He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because he had grown up in a place filled with betrayal, but Yung liked it when someone hated him.

That hatred served as a medium that made him stronger and a means to fuel his dark energy. And it excited him.

Yung thought there would be nothing more entertaining than someone someday coming to him, saying, “You’re my friend’s nemesis…,” only to meet a miserable end at his hands.

Smiling faintly, Yung began crafting a scenario in his mind.

To extract even more despair.

Imagining how to instill despair in a way that would make the dish even more flavorful, Yung continued his battle with the boy.

“Stop thinking strange thoughts…!”

For now. Let’s finish this first.

-Stab.

Yung pulled a small dagger from behind his waist and plunged it into the boy’s shoulder. He didn’t stab deeply; it would have been troublesome if the boy died.

He hadn’t decided on the main course yet.

Whether it should be that boy.

Or perhaps that kid named Mikhail.

Smiling faintly, Yung covered the boy’s mouth and spoke.

“Let’s take a look at your dish first.”

Just as the dark magic began to invade Ricardo’s mind.

-Crackle.

An intense pain engulfed Yung.