NOVEL NEXT chapter 13
13. Am I not allowed to do as I please just because I’m the villain?
In the sleepless nights of recent days, Valentina had imagined countless times what the true form of the evil god might be.
She even thought that if the evil god had a body and was no longer in a misty form, she could attack him.
If that were the case, she would definitely strike the moment she saw the evil god’s physical form.
Even if it meant choking him with her own hands, she would eradicate this wicked deity and make him understand that humans were not his toys.
But in reality, when Valentina finally saw him, she found her legs petrified, unable to move.
For although she had already experienced the power of the evil god firsthand, the scene before her still exceeded her imagination.
Among the sprawled bodies on the ground, the only one standing was the black-haired youth, exuding an unreasonable, overwhelming aura, like a massive tornado appearing in a field, brutal and chaotic, instilling a primal sense of awe and retreat.
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Even more incomprehensible to the human mind is the fact that, while one can clearly recognize the other as a young man with black hair, one cannot, no matter what, perceive his face.
The young man’s face is clearly not shrouded in black mist, yet it remains unrecognizable, as if the moment the brain attempts to comprehend it, the thought is forcibly interrupted.
It’s as if the instinct of living beings is declaring that this is something absolutely forbidden to look at.
The existence of the other as a deity is itself a taboo among taboos, and to attempt to decipher the existence of a god…
Even if it’s just to analyze the exterior, the moment one sees it… one would die.
Thus, living beings instinctively choose to resist; if the eyes must look, the brain will directly sever thought.
“Ugh!”
In fact, this was the case. Two of the guards behind Valentina immediately fainted after feeling the world spin around them.
One can’t help but marvel at the youth of the young; they can just fall asleep at a moment’s notice.
Noticing that the other guards could no longer bear to look at the young man’s face, they quickly averted their gazes, yet they were still drenched in cold sweat, trembling in confusion before the unimaginable presence.
“!?”
Valentina could not comprehend any of this, her expression one of shock as she wondered why the guards behind her had suddenly collapsed.
Though she too could not grasp everything, she could clearly see the lower half of the young man’s face, especially the smile at the corner of his mouth. Thus, she assumed the guards had fainted from the ‘evil aura’ he exuded.
Even without knowing exactly what was happening, she was well aware that the source of it all was the malevolent god before her.
Therefore, she immediately adopted the demeanor of a princess, trying to muster her courage to confront the evil god head-on.
“Let go of that noble! If you have the guts, come at me!”
Fueled by disgust, anger, and a sense of justice, Valentina truly faced the evil god without flinching. Her resolute stance against an overwhelmingly powerful foe was dazzling enough to inspire admiration.
Especially from the guards behind her, who had initially thought the princess was merely playing at being an adventurer.
Now they realized that the princess was indeed a top-tier adventurer, and their admiration for Valentina grew immensely.
“Hmph, very well, as you wish.”
And it wasn’t just the passing guards who were pleased with Valentina; the true instigator of it all, the malevolent god—Noah—was also satisfied.
He casually tossed aside the plump nobleman’s son, whose struggles were growing weaker, as if discarding trash into a bin, watching him slide away from the goddess.
Then, with a leisurely gait, a hint of malice curling at the corners of his mouth, Noah slowly approached Valentina step by step.
He could sense that, as he drew nearer, Valentina was becoming increasingly tense, perhaps even to the point of launching an attack first.
If that were the case, Noah would find it quite agreeable.
After all, he had come out of the temple today to further corrupt Valentina.
Not long ago, he had attacked the victim to give them one last chance, and as expected, they were like mud that couldn’t be molded, a rotten orange was simply a rotten orange; to protect oneself, the protagonist had to change herself.
Originally, Noah had planned to disguise himself as an ordinary person, casually monitoring Valentina’s actions while passing the time thinking about how to proceed.
However, he saw the self-proclaimed noble son trying to buy up all the limited items in the store, along with the people behind him.
It was a trivial matter that had nothing to do with Noah; he could have just ignored it, but considering he was already the strongest hidden BOSS in this world, why should he endure?
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If I’m going to hide like a hidden boss, yet still live a peaceful life without causing trouble, what’s the difference from being a salted fish?
So Noah directly gave the chubby noble who cut in line a good beating, and to prevent the surrounding people from harboring resentment later, he also took them all down in the process.
By the time he realized that this might attract Valentina, it was already after the fact.
Thus, Noah took the opportunity to adopt a demeanor of an evil god who treats good and evil alike, bullying everyone fairly, to provoke Valentina.
This way, she would also be more resistant to other villains, right?
“Stop, stop! Don’t come any closer!”
But as Noah drew nearer, Valentina, who had initially seemed determined to resist him with all her might, suddenly lost much of her momentum for some reason. Her cheeks inexplicably flushed a shade of red, her eyes filled with panic, and she hurriedly commanded Noah to halt.
Noah found this strange, but he stopped nonetheless, teasingly saying:
“Oh, what’s wrong, Your Highness? Didn’t you say to come at you?”
“Um… y-yes, that’s true…”
Valentina, whose resolve was shaken by Noah’s merciless remark, no longer spoke with the same authority as before. Instead, her voice turned timid, like a delicate girl lacking confidence, unable to meet Noah’s gaze.
The reason for all this? Valentina suddenly envisioned a terrifying future.
Wait! Thinking it over, she was currently concealing her dragon form while in the capital. What if the evil god used this to threaten her?!
What if the evil god quietly approached her, whispering in her ear with a devilish voice, “Your Highness, you wouldn’t want anyone to discover that you’re actually a wicked dragon, would you?”
She would definitely be subjected to something outrageous! After all, he is an evil god!
Just the thought of potentially being coerced made Valentina’s confidence waver.
Thus, she appeared so flustered.
“Let me think, Your Highness, are you worried that I might use that against you?”
Seeing her look as if she was afraid of something, Noah quickly came up with a possibility and voiced it.
“Eh!?”
“…Ah?”
But in truth, Noah was only half-convinced. After all, that wasn’t something he wanted to do. Although he was fond of Valentina, he had no interest in her body.
He had seen enough of that in the original work.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Noah’s words, Valentina clearly displayed a shocked expression of “Have I been seen through again?!” and took a step back in her panic.
Her reaction made Noah furrow his brows in dissatisfaction.
What was this reaction?! Wasn’t this clearly teasing him into a defeat play?!
This was unacceptable!
It seemed that he would have to use stronger methods in her training from now on!
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