I Became the Leader of a Villain Organization

Chapter 36: Two Leaders

Sir Roland, the strongest knight in the Holy Kingdom.

His strength is not lacking even in the face of the Black Snake’s name, and it is no wonder that some have predicted his victory.

He is, after all, a monster with strength and skill that can hardly be found in this world.

─It would not be an exaggeration to say that he is the strongest I have ever fought. There was no reason to let my guard down.

The magical blades circling around me through the scattered energy as if they were about to shoot out at any moment.

I didn’t stop there, casting all sorts of support spells that would be useful in a one-on-one duel. I made no sound except for my mouth.

, , , .

My most effective utility spells, plus three protective spells that prevent me from dying even if I want to.

In game, the Warlock class only has access to offensive spells and buffs that directly enhance offensive spells.

However, the four spells I used earlier are purely defensive and utility spells that fall into none of those categories.

This wasn’t a game anymore.

The final one is Abyssal Ascendant but this last spell was different.

The Warlock’s bread and butter, the best spell in the class, and the most buffed class aura in the entire series.

It addresses the Warlock class’s plight: a buff that addresses their lack of defense and utility skills and gives them wings to their otherwise unrivaled offense.

It’s a bit overshadowed by the fact that Warlocks already have magic they can’t use, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable.

───

Abyssal Ascendant

– Class – Ritual

– Spell Level – 10

– Prerequisite Schools – Black Magic, Metamorphosis, Arcane Studies, Taboo Studies

– Description – Rebuilds the caster’s body with abyssal magic, granting him an immortal body. The highest state the Warlock class can reach.

– Effect.

– Immediately after casting, the unique resource ‘Abyssal Energy’ replaces all Health, Stamina, and MP:

– Abyssal Energy slowly decreases whenever you are attacked, cast spells, take actions, or over time, and as soon as it is depleted, your Abyssal Ascendant status is removed.

– 20% increased spell damage, ignores magic resistances

– 50% increased speed for actions that cost Stamina

– Immune to physical damage, greatly increased resistance to negative magic, immune to poison, corruption, and curse properties

– Special Notes

– This spell has a cast count independent of the cooldown (up to 4), and can be recharged by dedicating a Legendary or higher tier Tome.

– Description.

– There are those who long not only to peer into the abyss, but to willingly become one with it.

───

Note that the above descriptions are just in-game information that I remember from my head.

It’s not something you can actually see.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a system message.

In the same vein, there’s no visible health bar. There’s no game where you can spend all day stabbing at enemies with ridiculously high health, the so-called “blood pigs”.

So I had to be wary.

Everyone is equal in front of the spear, and Rain Gray would be no exception.

I glanced at Sir Roland, who, like me, cast all manner of buffed arts and was bathed in the aura of gold, divinity, and starlight.

He holds in his hand a spear imbued with the power of the stars.

“…….”

Even as I do this, the Abyssal Energy that replaces my flesh and blood is dwindling so I can’t afford to delay.

The sword is unleashed.

The enchanted blades of have been buffed by and transformed into pitch-black blades.

At the same time as the blade baptism is unleashed, Sir Roland is slammed to the ground. He does not dodge. Instead, he closed the distance in front of the bombardment of blades that rained down on him.

-Kaang!

His holy lance deflected one of the blades. Frightening to deflect, the blades changed trajectories of their own accord in midair, tracking Roland like guided missiles.

But Roland’s holy lance intercepted all of the swirling blades like a whirlwind, and without missing a beat, he charged at me.

He was fast, so fast that I could barely follow him with my eyes.

His movements and speed can only be described as divine.

After all, I, a mage, am no match for him, no matter how many buffs I have.

-Bang!

The tip of the holy spear rushed in front of my nose and at the same time, a barrier of crystalline fractal structure closed in between us, and a recursive pattern of symbols struck down.

A spear blade imbued with stellar power shatters the Spell Armor of an Alien Civilization. It’s a shield, but it’s not much more than a shield.

“─”

But when I realized, Roland’s spear, which was supposed to pierce the barrier and reach me, was not there.

Nor was Roland’s.

The place where he placed his feet was still there. The same goes for me.

What changed was not us, but the distance of a single foot between us.

The area that was only a few tens of centimeters has now expanded to well over tens of meters, widening the distance between us.

This was why the Labyrinth of the Infinite Corridor was said to be the pinnacle of crystallization magic.

Here, space can be manipulated freely, even compressed or expanded and structures are no exception.

The only restriction is that I can’t manipulate space to ‘directly’ injure someone.

Anything short of a , such as cutting through space to split an opponent in two, is possible.

I can also expand the space between me and an oncoming opponent so that they can’t reach me, like Achilles and the Tortoise, or vice versa.

I could do the same thing now.

I wordlessly stretched out my hand, and the energy at the end of it took the form of a fireball.

With that, the explosive suddenly disappeared. Once it was gone, it reappeared right behind Roland.

The manipulation of space does not directly injure. It’s not the space that does the harm, it’s the fire explosive that’s there.

-Kwah!

The force of the explosion right behind his back was enough to turn even a heavily armored knight into meat.

And it wasn’t just one explosive that went off. It was a series of explosive baptisms that were generated one after another and delivered with spatial manipulation.

“.”

I cast the secondary spell again in the face of the flames and explosions that blocked my vision.

As I cast the spell, the landscape, obscured by the roiling explosion, came into view with binocular clarity.

He was there and strode out through the flames, seemingly unperturbed by the explosion.

With a seemingly calm gait, he sheathed his spear and emerged through the curtain of fire.

He didn’t have a single scorch mark on him and looked unharmed.

“─Taeseongun.”

The strongest knight that the kingdom of stars boasts speaks the name of the star.

-Whoa!

With that, the invisible sky shook, and a whirlwind of invisible power swirled around him.

It was a storm so intense that he could barely steady himself.

A hypothetical planet that existed in the inverse position of Jupiter in ancient China. As a malefic star known as a symbol of inauspiciousness, ‘Taeseongun’, which is said to be the god of this star, is also famous as an evil god and a disaster god.

“O god who rules the star of bad luck, please show your power to my enemies.”

Paladin, as the name suggests, it’s a class that draws upon the power of the stars in the heavens to fight.

As the pinnacle of the Crusader Knights, Sir Roland mends his spear and along the holy spear an ominous and terrifying power descends.

“A killing star.”

And that’s not all he says.

“May my enemies meet their fate as they deserve.”

The Killing Star. The star that governs life and death.

With its name, a sudden, indescribable ominousness descended.

“Foreknowledge of my inevitable death.”

A sensation I can never feel in a game. This is a real world, and it feels real.

There was a sense of foreboding, as if the stars in the sky were “wishing” for my death.

As if the storm had stopped and the star was peeking through the dark clouds.

───

“Heavenly Star’s Gaze”

– Unique Curse

– 44% increased Damage taken, 44% reduced Armor and Evasion modifiers

– Negatively Affects , .

───

Again, this is all in my head.

I know it in my head. Still, it’s different.

Now, this is not a debuff that can be understood by a few lines of text and numbers in the game. I couldn’t even compare the two.

A premonition of death, like an actual ‘god’ whispering to me, hoping for my demise.

The overwhelming sense of helplessness that I can never defy the fate of the stars.

“…….”

I knew that from the start he was not an easy opponent.

That’s why I wordlessly took out the cigarette in my hand and popped it into my mouth. The cigarette spontaneously ignited.

In front of the burning embers, I renewed my resolve.

─I will not die here.

No, I couldn’t die.

I’ve come this far, lured into a world of unopened packages, possessed by a boss of the most vicious villains in the game, and wandering through a labyrinth.

I have come this far to live.

The innocent victims dying here, the people who died simply because they encountered the Black Snake, the deeds done along our path, all of it.

The mountains of corpses we’ve piled up along the way.

All for the sake of my own life.

And I am an evil that values the lives of others less than ants before my own.

So I could not die.

─Even if it were the fate of the stars.

*

An accommodation in the suburbs of the Duchy of Germania.

“……I’ll untie it.”

Sitting in the bathtub, ‘Sword Lady’ Alina unwrapped her chest bandages, revealing a back as pale and white as a corpse’s, along with her heaving breasts.

“Thank you, Holy Maiden.”

Jeanne carefully removed the bandages from her back and gazed at the wingbone that was slowly decaying through her pale, pale skin. Several maggots were already eating away at the flesh.

Jeanne dipped a rag in the mercury she’d filled the tub with earlier and wiped Alina’s back.

Unlike a corpse that is simply embalmed and locked away in a tomb for the rest of its life, she is not dead.

She has become an immortal swordswoman, a death knight who can move with her will.

Right now, Alina is immersed in a bath of mercury to embalm her dead body.

Her lifeless, chilled flesh is as white and clean as white jade with a hint of ash.

At the same time, every inch of it is undergoing the natural process of life, decay.

“I’ll start the embalming process again.”

“…….”

It was up to the holy maiden, who traveled with her in her care, to halt the process at every turn and secure her immortal body.

She immersed herself in mercury and brought out other vials of medicinal fluids to slow and inhibit decay and metamorphosis. Fortunately, these were not hard to come by in Germania, the Land of Necromancy.

Looking at the sight, Alina said in a bitter voice.

“I look pretty ugly, don’t you think?”

“……Not ugly.”

Maiden Jeanne smiled gently and shook her head. She stirred and then lightly caressed the nape of Alina’s pale, slender neck.

“You are so beautiful.”

In each other’s minds, each with the memory of an equally unforgettable man embedded as deeply as a thorn.