I Got Reincarnated Into a Game I Was a Top-Ranker in and I Became the Leader of a Villain Group That Will Destroy This Shitty Country - 26

Chapter 26: Attack

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The world was on fire. At least, that was how it appeared to Kaltz, the Hero. Upon hearing strange noises coming from outside, Kaltz dashed out of the inn and there, he saw a horde of monsters that should have stayed inside the dungeon. It was midnight. There were no stars in the sky. Only the moonlight served as the light source to illuminate the slum where people were dying everywhere. 

The poor people of the slum died horribly, with their eyes dyed in fear at the sight of monsters. 

Why? Who?

However, before he could ponder even further, scrams of man echoed from afar. The screams of lives being extinguished rapidly.

“Guha!? Ge- Guueeeeeee……!!”

“Kii! Kiiiiiiiiii!!”

There were no guards in the slum. After all, this place was quite literally a lawless zone. No soldiers would rush here even if a horrendous incident were to happen. The only public institution here was the guild. However, even those people of the guilds were running for their lives. Their faces were as pale as ghosts. 

It was truly a carnage. The mercenaries, who were full of confidence at first, ended up getting bitten and eaten by the tarantulas. Helpless orphans getting grabbed by ghouls, eaten alive. 

Gritting his teeth, Kaltz drew the holy sword out.

“Shit…! Why are the dungeon monsters here?! Where is the guild’s branch manager?!”

“I don’t know! But, we need to save as many people as we can…!”

“I-I will treat the injured-“

“What are you talking about, Alywn?! In a situation like this, our lives are the most important thing! If we die, everyone will die!”

“B-But…!”

“Tch… Where’s Chloe? Chloe?!”

Kaltz ‘eyes were bloodshot as he turned back to look at Brien and Alywn. He found Chloe’s disappearance to be strange. After all, usually Chloe would be the first to notice an anomaly like this.

“Chloe left the inn a while ago. She said she has something to do…”

“What?! Is she out of her mind…?! Shit! She’s so useless!!”

As Kaltz hurled insults at Chloe, Gebels voice also echoed in his mind.

“Of course she wishes to bring the downfall of the empire that treated her like the trash she is. Think about it, Kaltz-sama. Do you really believe she joined your party without any ulterior motive?”

Chloe often went away to investigate something. Maybe Chloe was the one that instigated this monster outbreak? What was she hiding? Why Chloe wasn’t here? When we needed her the most?

“Kaltz, what are you spacing out for?! We need to do something or everyone will die!”

“Tch… Fine. Let’s go, Brien, Alwyn!”

At the end of this incident… I will need to question Chloe thoroughly…

Kaltz thought to himself as he charged into the horde of monsters.

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“…We should be safe here.”

Nia and I were in the middle of a dense forest right next to the slums, standing near the old Schwitz Detention Camp, the place where Nia and I were once imprisoned. Turning around, I could see it clearly even from this distance. The buildings in the town were burning at an alarming rate. The mid-level boss we had once defeated, the Ancient Ghoul, was flying through the sky. Dungeon monsters had launched an attack on a town where a lot of humans lived. 

Nia, who still had one of her eyes covered by bandages, turned around to look at the town as well.

“Kai, over there…”

“…Gebels.”

I whispered, barely audible. This was his doing. Dungeon monsters were designed to be unable to exit the confines of the dungeon. That was the game mechanic. The guild staff had told nothing was amiss before this incident. The monsters should had stayed in the dungeon. So… How did the monsters manage to escape the dungeon?

The answer was simple. Their mind was manipulated with black magic.

“Oh my, oh my. It has started, huh?”

Right after I reached the conclusion for tonight’s incident, a tall man with slitted eyes appeared before us. 

“Thank you for coming all the way here, you two.”

“Yo-You are…?!”

“I’m the empire’s researcher. Gebels Zodiac.”

“…The-Then please help us! Monsters suddenly appeared! We had to run-“

“Now, now, isn’t it time for you to drop the act….. Demon?”

Curling the corners of his mouth into a smirk, Gebels opened his slitted eyes a bit. 

“I could tell just by looking at you. Your magic power is shrouded by mist, but the face of the demon lurking within you is crystal clear. And… As for that young lady… Fufu~”

“…..”

“I don’t think I need to elaborate. Her murderous intent is almost palpable.”

“…..Hahaha…”

So my acting ends up a failure, huh? Well, it’s not exactly a failure per say. I knew this would happen anyway. 

I licked my lips to moisten it and I slowly looked back at him. 

“That’s your doing, right?”

“Indeed. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes. It’s beautiful, right? Thrilling, even.”

Closing his slitted eyes once more, Gebels tilted his head slightly and began to speak slowly.

“It’s a curious thing to witness, you know? Bodies scattered throughout the city… Red blood painting the streets crimson… The pungent stench of rotting flesh in the air… Isn’t it all just so… Exhilaratingly thrilling?”

“…Wow.”

“Fufu~ Thank you for the compliment~”

“Man, you’re seriously rotten in the head, huh?”

“Oh my, what a foul-mouthed young boy.”

As if he had expected my reaction, Gebels snickered again. And then, I could see it with my eyes. The magic power within his body was getting bigger gradually.

“I don’t understand why you would say I’m rotten in the head. I was merely trying to clean up the trash and recycle.”

“Trash?”

“Why, of course I’m referring to those residents of the slums. My, I thought you would understand given the context of our conversation.”

“Hmm… I can see one right now.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, I can see one trash in front of me. However, the trash in front of me is so rotten that I can’t even recycle it anymore. This trash needs to be buried 6 feet under.”

Almost immediately, Gebels slitted eyes widened. 

“….Hahaha…. Don’t tell me… You were talking about…”

“This trash is worse than kitchen scraps. At least you can turn kitchen scraps into fertilizer.. But you… Gebels…”

“….”

“You’re just useless trash, aren’t you?”

“…..Hahaha…”

Gebels must be furious. I could see the veins on his forehead popping out. For a split second, his eyes flickered. A fierce, murderous glare so sharp as if he wanted to kill me with his gaze alone. 

However, I taunted him even further. I tilted my head innocently.

“But you know… Turns out trash these days can speak, huh?”

“…You…”

“Wow~ Look, the trash is talking. Amazing~ It’s also amazing you still retain your human skin. After all, your hands are already stained with blood from more than 5000 kids you’ve killed.”

“And I’ll be sure to kill you.”

“Hahaha~ How generous of you… However, I don’t have any plan in letting you kill me though?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t believe in superstition, but I know one thing for sure.”

With a smirk, I continued on.

“You’re about to die 5000 times.”

“…….Huh?”

“I will make you experience the same pain all those children you’ve killed experienced. Every single death… I will let you taste it to the fullest… You shall suffer in agony.. I will make you feel every death with your mind.. With your body… All of the deaths…”

“Hahahahaha!~ As expected from a demon… Truly, as expected from a demon!!!”

“No? The demon here is you though?”

I shrugged. My voice remained as calm as ever.

“Well, I guess you will understand it after I let you taste the same pain you’ve inflicted on others. Maybe after 5000 deaths.. You finally realized, ah maybe I was the demon after all~”

“….Fufufu~ My, my. I didn’t expect you’d be this amusing.”

“Can’t say the same about you though. Gebels, you’re even more boring and disgusting than I thought.”

That last mockery must be the final straw. Gebel finally opened his eyes wide and clasped his hands together.

“Young boy, I’ll teach you one important thing.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Magic is like two sides of the same coin. The deeper your knowledge about magic is, the more you will know how to suppress it.”

“And?”

“Whether you’re a demon or whatever… It means.. You’ll be killed by me, you damn brat.”

Gebels finally revealed his true nature. A pitch black aura emanated from him. Gradually, what appeared to be small drops of magic particles gradually transformed into a massive membrane, almost like a curtain. The black curtain descended down to envelop us from above. Even the moonlight couldn’t pass through the dark membrane. The whole sky was covered by the magic curtain. 

I activated my magic vision to see through the true nature of this black curtain. 

….So it’s like a barrier that absorbs the target’s magic power. But wow, its massive size is pretty impressive…

In front of me, Gebels stood together with a triumphant expression on his face. His hands were clasped together. 

So, this was his plan all along. He instigated the massacre in the slum and then he would manipulate our minds so he could put the blame on us. Had we chosen to fight in the city, he would find the right opportunity to ambush us and capture us alive. But, since we chose to run away to hide our identities… Gebels decided to confront us head on like this.

“Even if you have the power of a demon in your hands, the foundation of the demon’s power is still magic. Fufu~ Fret not. I won’t let you die.. Not today. I want to take my time dissecting your body. Oh, of course, I wish to do it while you’re still conscious.”

“Oooh… You’ve really thought everything out, huh Gebels?”

“I can’t help it. Just thinking about what I’m going to do to you is just too exhilaratingly thrilling. Fufufu~”

“I see. I’ll be sure to put this on my list then.”

Then, just as the curtain was about to crush me and Nia… I squeezed Nia’s hand tightly and said.

“I will be sure to add that way of dying into my list. Thank you for the creative input, Gebels.”

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