The Villain has Perished

Chapter 73 I’m No Protagonist

?

'I guess she isn't totally useless.'

? +1 Kill Point ?

? +1 Kill Point ?

? +1 Kill Point ?

? +1 Kill Point ?

The notifications continued to rain as I crushed the grasshopper egg sacks in my palms. This was what Setsuna had left for me – 53 grasshopper egg sacks.

It was an easy way to gain a large amount of Kill Points without risking my life.

However, this method was troublesome in its own way.

In this world, the presence of mana caused beings to evolve. As such, finding the eggs of normal animals was hard. 

The last time I had found those egg sacks after scouring through the entirety of the Forest of Silence day and night. 

Crown of Massacre counts killing of all types of life forms as long as they are not below 3 ranks of mine. 

Right now, while I was in 2nd Mortal Awakening was the only time where I can gain Kill Points by eliminating beings who haven't gone through 1st Mortal Awakening.

In the end, the total number of Kill Points reached a satisfactory amount…

Kill Points: 26,583

'This much should be barely enough.'

My plan was simple. 

Destroy the Dream Tree before it fully blooms and leave everything after it to Yula.

Yula was the weakest Daemon in the novel. I would always wonder if she actually was a Daemon, she was that weak.

Nevertheless, she is at 3-star King rank. 

As long as she doesn't get caught in the Dream Tree, she should be able to win against Qantal in a head-on fight.

I was basically going to force her to fight.

After all, I showed the Daemon in the forest of silence that I have abilities similar to Solomon. They won't let me die easily after knowing that.

All the evidence pointed out that Solomon was dead and he was to be revived in my body. Although Setsuna killed him already, the Daemons don't know this.

For them, I should be Solomon, who hasn't regained his memories, or Solomon, who is slowly taking over Sol.

They were probably leaving me to my own devices, as they believe Solomon won't need their help. 

However, given the situation where there is always at least one daemon in my vicinity. The Daemons are also worried that I can't use Solomon's true power yet.

So, they are protecting me from the shadows if it becomes truly dangerous by leaving one Daemon with me at all times.

At least, this was my theory.

Either way, Yula will have no choice but to fight when Qantal goes on a rampage after having its Dream Tree destroyed.

'How many people will die?'

I felt a bit salty, thinking about it. 

Although it didn't matter to me who died as long as they weren't close to me, it would be a lie to say I didn't want to have a better plan.

With my current method, countless people would die from Qantal's rampage. In a way, their deaths would be my fault.

Perhaps it was Orca's words in the forest, but it made me needlessly aware of deaths that occurred as a consequence of my actions.

However, in the end, that was it.

I wasn't going to change my plan because of this change in heart.

If I wasn't 2nd Mortal Awakening but King rank, or even Saint rank, my choice might've been different. 

But that was just a hypothetical 'if'. 

I was only 2nd Mortal Awakening rank, an ant in front of powerhouses like Dragon Kings.

There was no way for me to fight the Dragon Kings on equal grounds. Even if I could, I won't be able to afford the consequences.

I couldn't dive headfirst into the problem while hoping for everything to work out. I wasn't the protagonist.

'I am a villain…'

For my path to be filled with bloodshed, maybe that's how things were meant to be?

I didn't hate the thought. Even in my previous life, I liked villains more than the heroes.

It might be weird, but to me, characters like Solomon who ruled with an iron fist were more appealing than someone like Jae-sung.

Their charisma was always dazzling. 

I didn't hate the thought, but it was just... strangely melancholic.

…

While I was moving through the Imperial Palace, suddenly a woman stopped me. 

"Wait! Are you Sol?"

I gave her a side-along glance, a short nod, and proceeded to walk again. There was no time left to waste on greetings.

"Wait!"

However, the woman seemed persistent. Removing her hood, she blocked my path.

"There is something we need to talk about."

I was about to ignore her again, but my eyes fell on her face, specifically her ears.

'Why is there an elf inside the Imperial Palace?'

...

..

.

A young woman with ginger-colored twin tails was slowly swirling the wineglass in her hands while overlooking the banquet hall being prepared for tonight's ball.

Along with her childish appearance, the twinkling decorations in her dress gave her a strange ambiance. 

Perhaps it would've been better for her to remove those shining trinkets, which felt more suitable for children to play with.

She was Qantal, the Illusive Dragon King, or at least that was the name of the being possessing the woman's body.

With furrowed brows, Qantal spoke to the air.

"Are we sure about this? Going against Daemons can cost us a lot."

"We don't have a choice. This was Smiling Tears' condition – to conquer the Imperial Capital – for removing our seal."

A shadow appeared on the porch beside Qantal and answered her. It continued.

"We already separated all Daemons. Only the weakest one remains inside the capital."

Smiling Tear was the title of the Daemon possessing Jared – Sol's elder brother.

Unlike what Sol had thought, Qantal wasn't playing. Instead, she was being careful of separating Daemons from the capital. 

Lighting, tapping the glass in her hands on the railings in frustration, Qantal spoke. "Yula, is that her name? What is her rank among the Daemons? I've already caught her in my Dream Tree. But it is baffling that there is a Daemon as weak as her. "

The shadow beside Qantal shook its head to show that it was equally unaware of the answer.

"When will you spread your Dream Tree over the capital? Hasn't it already bloomed?"

The shadow's words caused visible frustration in Qantal.

She snarled. "I leaked information about my attack to the prince since I thought he was competent. It just infuriates me to think about the time I wasted on such a useless endeavor. Why did I expect the prince of these bugs to be interesting?"

"You are and your useless games." said the shadow while shaking its head.

At the shadow's words, Qantal finally exploded from the anger she was withholding. 

"Before you point your fingers at me, you should look at yourself and your sick hobby! Isn't that the body of the knight working for the prince of this insect's Empire that you are playing with?"

Qantal glared at the shadow while talking to it. She roared angrily.

"I can't believe that I have to work together with you! Why are the two of us here? That damned Smiling Tear! The seal would've disappeared by itself in a few months either way! He is just using us like his slaves!

"There is no fun if we are working for someone else! I'll just finish everything now!!"