I Am a Villain, So What?-Chapter 133: Transcended..?

"You think I’ll let you touch him?"

"Hmm. My cute children are about to catch the maid anyway," Elena said dismissively. "You have no cards left, old man."

Merle reached into his pocket.

"I’ve got one card left."

Merle’s voice was calm, contrasting with the chaotic screeching of the Shadow Stalkers.

There was only one way to help Alicia escape from the clutches of a monster like Elena. Summons typically stopped, or at least faltered, if their summoner was critically harmed.

Merle walked toward the girl with the ivory hair, ignoring the black spike of mana hovering inches from his heart.

He raised his trembling hand.

"A card inspired by the Lumeveil Dimension Research Institute’s final experiment," Merle rasped, his eyes burning with a suicidal resolve. "Be honored, child. You are the first to witness the end of an era. Above all, it’s not my work—it’s my mentor’s relic."

Elena’s smile faltered for the first time. The mana gathering in that small piece of paper wasn’t normal. It felt like a collapsing star.

"Stop him!"

But Merle had already flicked his wrist.

The card fluttered through the air, landing softly between Elena and himself.

Merle whispered the activation word.

"Big Bang."

[The Capital - Outer District]

The Aurelian Empire’s capital was a fortress, the center of the continent, and home to the world’s largest population. It was a symbol of unshakeable stability.

But on a clear blue afternoon, that stability was shattered.

KAAAA-BOOOOM!

A deafening roar erased all sound.

From the slums, a mushroom cloud of pure white mana rose into the sky, tearing through the clouds. A massive shockwave rippled outward, shattering windows for miles and shaking the ground like a magnitude-7 earthquake.

It bloomed like a beautiful, terrifying flower of destruction.

[The Slums - Alleyway]

Alicia turned and witnessed it.

The shockwave hit her a second later, a fierce heatwave that pushed her forward, nearly knocking her off her feet.

The Shadow monsters chasing her like rats froze, their connection to the summoner momentarily disrupted by the cataclysmic energy.

"...Manager."

Her pause was brief. She didn’t cry. She didn’t look back. She turned and sprinted toward the main road with renewed desperation.

’He bought me time. I cannot waste it.’

She reached the edge of the abandoned district and entered the gang territory.

"Hey, what the hell was that explosion?" "Look! A maid?" "Alone in the slums? That’s a signal to get grabbed, right?"

Three gang members, recovering from the shock of the blast, saw the disheveled woman running toward them. They grinned, blocking her path with rusted knives.

"Hey, little lady—urgh!"

Slash.

Alicia didn’t even slow down.

As the gang member reached out, she drew a hidden dagger from her garter. With a fluid motion, she slit his throat.

Blood sprayed.

"You bitch—!"

Thud.

She stepped inside the second man’s guard and drove the blade up under his chin, piercing his brain.

Two kills in two seconds.

She felt no torment, no guilt. These were not people; they were obstacles between her and her master.

’Master.’

Alicia ran past the collapsing bodies, heading for the main road.

Creakkkkk...!

The cursed sound resumed.

Alicia’s heart sank. The disruption from the explosion had been temporary. Elena had survived.

SCREEE!

The haunting shrieks chased her. Black, hideous Wraiths crawled on the walls and leaped over rooftops, closing the distance with terrifying speed.

Alicia sprinted faster. But her legs felt like lead. The [Haste] magic Merle had cast was fading.

Creak! Kiaaaa!

They were right behind her. She could feel their cold breath on her neck. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

’Master Lucien!’

Alicia ran desperately. She wished fervently. If she turned that alley corner, would Master Lucien be there, like a miracle?

She knew it was impossible. He was at the Academy. He didn’t know she was here.

Swish.

The lead Shadow Stalker lunged. Its cold, shadowy claws grazed the back of her maid outfit, tearing the fabric.

’Ah...!’

She stumbled.

’Master... I’m sorry...’

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the teeth.

BANG!

A thunderous sound tore through the alley. Not a scream. Not a roar.

An explosion of gunpowder.

SPLAT.

The Shadow Stalker that had touched her exploded into black mist.

Alicia’s eyes snapped open. Even muddled by exhaustion, she recognized that sound. It was the sound of safety.

"A gunshot."

She looked up.

Standing at the mouth of the alley, silhouetted against the smoke of the distant explosion, was a man in a black coat. He held a rifle that smoked with holy light.

"Master!"

Alicia shouted, her voice thick with emotion.

Lucien lowered the Winchester. He glanced at the disheveled Alicia—her torn uniform, the blood on her hands, the terror in her eyes.

Then, he turned his gaze to the Shadow Monsters that had tormented her.

His eyes were cold. Blue. Merciless.

[System Notification] [Condition Met.] [By eradicating high-tier evil with a weapon of judgment, a locked potential is awakened.]

[New Passive Skill Unlocked: Blessing of the Divine (E-Rank)]

Effect: Your attacks deal 200% Critical Damage to enemies with Chaos, Evil, or Demonic attributes.

Lucien sighed, seeing the notification.

’Great. Now I am definitely going to be misunderstood as the Executioner.’

But it wasn’t time to ponder on that.

He walked over to Alicia, pulling a blue vial from his inventory.

"Drink."

Alicia grabbed the High-Grade Mana Potion and downed it in one gulp. Color returned to her pale face.

Lucien looked at the horde of monsters hesitating at the sight of his Divine Bullets.

"You want them to pay back, don’t you?"

Alicia wiped her mouth. A dark, vicious smirk spread across her face—a mirror of Lucien’s own cruelty.

"Just what I needed, Master."

She felt her mana recovering. The fire in her core roared back to life.

"Good."

Lucien tossed two more potions—Healing and Stamina—to her.

"Keep these. Don’t die."

Alicia caught them. Her arms ignited with crimson flames.

"Master, Manager Merle is in danger! You should go to the explosion site!" Alicia shouted, her eyes fixed on the monsters. "I will take care of these bitches."

Lucien nodded. He looked at the mushroom cloud rising in the distance.

"Leave no crumbs, Alicia."

"Yes, Master!"

Lucien turned and sprinted toward the smoke, disappearing into the maze of the slums.

Alicia turned back to the Shadow Stalkers.

The fear was gone. The desperation was gone. All that remained was the Frenzied Maid.

She cracked her knuckles, the fire intensifying until the alley glowed red.

"Now..."

She smiled, and it was terrifying.

"Which one of you touched my dress?"

ROAR!

She jumped into the horde, tearing the first Stalker apart with her bare, flaming hands. The tables had turned. The prey had become the predator.

****

[The Crater - Slums Sector 7]

The ground glowed a dull, angry red, radiating heat that distorted the air. A thick, white haze rose from the melted cobblestones.

This was the aftermath of [Big Bang], the forbidden alchemical card created by the Lumeveil Empire’s greatest minds.

"Ugh... cough! Cough, cough!"

Merle lay in the center of the devastation. He spat a mouthful of black blood, slowly raising his head.

His first concern wasn’t his broken ribs or the shrapnel in his leg. It was the formal suit he wore so proudly.

’The clothes... are ruined.’

The suit, woven with high-grade defensive enchantments passed down to the Lumeveil Empire’s Chief Researchers, was torn to rags. Without it, he would have been vaporized.

’Where did that girl go?’

With hands trembling from mana exhaustion, he pressed against the scorching earth. As he tried to stand—

THUD.

A small, burnt shoe stomped onto his head.

"Guh!"

His face slammed back into the hot ash. The pain of burning flesh made his vision swim.

’I didn’t kill her...!’

Without looking up, he knew who it was. The Mastermind controlling the Shadow Stalkers. The gentle, ivory-haired cadet, Elena.

"You survived... that...!" Merle wheezed.

"How dare... how dare... HOW DARE YOU!"

The shoe mercilessly ground his head into the dirt.

Merle forced his eyes open, looking up at his tormentor.

He gasped.

She could hardly be called a woman anymore. Her gender was indistinguishable.

Her beautiful ivory hair was gone, replaced by a charred, smoking scalp. Her skin had melted and reformed into a hardened, black carapace. Her voice was no longer soft; it was a horrific rasp, like iron grinding against bone.

From head to toe, she was a ruin of burns and regenerating monster flesh.

’She survived... but not as a human.’

Merle harbored strong doubts. A human mage, no matter how strong, should have died.

His doubts led to a hypothesis, then a chilling conclusion.

"...You didn’t summon a demon..."

He looked at the black claws sprouting from her melted fingers.

"You grafted it... into your body..."

A story Kael told him came to mind. In the Fern Kingdom, Dr. Eldri had created monstrous creatures using children as ’living vessels.’

"You turned yourself... into a Chimera..."

"Chimera?!"

Elena shrieked, the sound vibrating with mana.

"I am nothing like those lowly lab rats! I have... Transcended."

"Transcended...?"