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 - 33

Chapter 33: The Humiliation of the Hero

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The dimly-lit laboratory was suddenly enveloped in black magic power. The Hero party, excluding Chloe, could only stand in astonishment as they witnessed Nia’s red eyes glowing. A sinister magic, something only demons could have. 

“….! You…! You deceived us, didn’t you?!”

“Why…. Why won’t you trust your comrades?”

“Wha-… What?!”

“You…. You’re on that monster’s side.”

Nia glanced at Gebels’ corpse before she stared at Chloe. Nia had a glum expression when she stared at Chloe. 

“You are a monster.”

“…..Don’t joke with me!!!”

The moment Kaltz realized the nature of Nia’s magic power, he tried to rush to Nia with the holy sword in his hand. 

Fast. As expected from the one chosen by the holy sword. His growth was tremendous. Well,  he still wasn’t strong enough had the story proceeded as original though. 

“ARGH-!?”

“Ka-Kaltz!”

Brien, the elven archer screamed. Why? Because I had just kicked the guy who was about to jump at Nia. Kaltz was easily kicked away, probably because he didn’t expect I’d kick him. 

He fell near Gebels’ corpses. His eyes widened as he realized whose corpse it was. It seemed Gebels’ corpse looked uglier than he thought. 

….Well, if we’re talking about ugly… Kaltz is as ugly as Gebels though. 

“Kaltz.”

I lifted the Dark Sight skill I had used to cover myself and glared at him. 

“You’re not a hero.”

“Cough!! Cough…! Yo-You guys…! You guys are Shadow, huh?!”

“You’re just a delusional fanatic with a strong sense of elitism, Kaltz.”

“Yo-You monster with mismatched eyes! Ugh…! Brien! Alwyn! What are you guys doing?! Hurry up! Stop hi-“

“Don’t move.”

Just when Kaltz was about to order the other two, Nia intercepted. Her voice rang out clear and loud. 

“I don’t want to kill people who have nothing to do with this.”

“…!”

“Don’t move. This is an order and my personal wish.”

“…..”

Neither Brien, who looked vexed, and Alwyn, who looked frightened, could bring themselves to say anything in return. After all, the tide was extremely against their favor. Just a moment ago, they had been fighting desperately in the slum and now, they found themselves having to face a demon. Both of them knew that they didn’t have any chance in winning, no matter how hard they tried. The two of them had already come to the conclusion that it was better to heed the words of this young girl rather than risking their lives unnecessarily. 

And yet… Kaltz…

“Wha-… What are you two doing?! Brien! Alywn! There’s a demon right in front of us!!!”

“…….”

“…….”

“Tch… Each and everyone of you… Just a bunch of cowards… Fine. I will handle this myself-“

“Yeah, come on. Give it a shot. On your own, right?”

“URGH-?!”

Once again, I kicked his side. Then, I locked eyes with Nia before I slowly nodded. Immediately knowing what I meant, Nia clasped her hands together, manifesting several magic spears and fired them all at Kaltz. 

“-?!?!”

Kaltz rolled his body to evade the attack out of reflex. However, Nia’s magic wasn’t that easy to dodge. In the end, the lower half of his body was pierced by the black spears. 

“Ugh-! ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“….”

Now that he couldn’t put up any resistance, I approached him deliberately slowly. He remained slumped against the wall. His face bore a mixture of unyielding determination and profound fear of his impending demise. 

“You know, Kaltz…”

“Hi-Hiii-!”

“Do you truly believe that your righteousness is right?”

Those words slipped out from my mouth without me realizing it. I knew I couldn’t convince him with words alone, but I couldn’t help myself. After all, I had pent up stress while playing the game because of him. Seeing his attitude towards Chloe earlier was the last straw that broke me. 

“Wha-What….!”

“I’m chosen by the Holy Sword… I’m different from others! My own will and thoughts are precious, more so than other people… As a Hero, it is my duty to save those plebeians….”

“….”

“That’s what you’ve been thinking, right?”

I asked innocently while tilting my head to the side. Seeing Kaltz was about to get up, I kicked him again. 

“ARGHHH?!?”

The kick that hit him directly in the chest made Kaltz crumpled down in pain. I glanced back at Chloe.

“Chloe. It’s better if you turn your back from this scene, together with those two.”

“…Kai.”

“After all, this is not a pleasant scene to witness. Especially for you.”

Chloe had a complicated expression on her face. She glanced at the other two before she gingerly turned her back. The remaining two, also turned as I suggested, albeit they were still trembling furiously from fear. 

“Y-You bastard…!! Just what do you think you’re doing to me?!”

“Ahhhhh~ Just hearing your voice is making me want to barf. Annoying people like you who think they’re special are so annoying… After all, I’ve met some people like you even in my past life.”

“You demon…! I should’ve torn you apart when we first met! I only saved you because you were just a boy…!”

“Haha…. AHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Oops, I forgot to tell Chloe to cover her ears too. 

“Oi, Kaltz.”

“Do-Don’t call me by my name!!”

“Hmm~ Then should I call you Shithead instead? Oi, Shithead.”

“Wha-Wha-?!”

“You know… Just what the heck is wrong with you? Chloe.. She was trying her best for you, you know?”

“Stop speaking nonsens-! PFFFHA-?!?!”

“When someone is talking, you need to listen properly first, got it?”

I delivered a punch to his stomach as he laid there. He writhed in pain, curling up uncouthly. 

“Cough… Cough…!”

“You know, Chloe was always thinking about your party. She was always trying to come up with the best plan for you and yet… Just because you’re a shitty person or maybe because you’re rotten in the head, you never once considered those around you. You just shamelessly shoved your own ideals onto everyone else and when something happened, you bullied other people on the pretense of being the chosen hero. I mean, that’s messed up, you know?”

“You bastard…! If you dare to insult me any further, I’ll-!”

“Huh? What is it? What did you say again? Well, I mean, if you insist, sure. I can reconstruct your face with my fist.”

“….Ah….”

Seemingly frightened by the idea of having his face destroyed by my fist, he looked up at me like a frightened rat. 

Yeah, that’s it. What a nice sight to behold…

I thought to myself as I picked up the holy sword that had fallen to the ground. Then, I looked down at Kaltz. 

“You won’t bother to investigate things properly first. You only see what you want to see and think only what you want to think. That’s why, you’re not a hero, Kaltz. You’re just a shithead.”

“You… What do you even know about me-?! ARGHHH!!”

“Oops~ Sorry about that. Getting hit by the hilt of a sword must’ve hurt, huh? But seriously? Killing Chloe? Gebels couldn’t even kill her and yet… Do you seriously think YOU can kill her?”

“-?! ARGHHHH!!!”

I hit his body with the hilt of the sword again before I squatted down to meet his eyes. His face, the pure determination that had filled his face before had disappeared, replaced by fear and humiliation.

“You came with that conclusion just because you refuse to admit that the empire is the evil one, right?”

“Wha-What are-?!”

“After all, if the empire was the evil one, that also meant the whole existence of your life was for naught. You want to believe that you are the Hero~ Fighting for the Empire and all~ But, oh what do we have here? Over there, there’s Gebels, a piece of trash who played with human lives without remorse. This Gebels, that doesn’t even look like a human anymore, is surrounded by dozens of corpses. The corpses of his victims, of course.”

“Tha-That can’t be! This laboratory… Everything… Everything is Chloe-?!”

“Come on~ Think with your brain for a second~ Do you seriously think Chloe COULD do something like this?”

I raised the corner of my mouth into a smirk before looking at him with genuine pity.

“A laboratory this big… With all this advanced technology… You think all this stuff came for free? Of course you need to be rich to build this. Yes, at least someone as rich as the Crown Prince.”

“YOU BASTARDDD!! ARGHHHH?!”

“Ugh, so noisy. And you know, this lab isn’t the only one. Do you remember about Schwitz Detention Camp? The one that exploded? Do you know what was happening there? They treated children like filthy livestock, experimenting on them if the children collapsed, over and over again…. And if the children were a bit good looking, they would be used to satisfy the men’s carnal desire… You see, Kaltz… This empire is hell.”

“D-Don’t you dare insult the Crown Prince! He saved my life-! UAGGHH?!”

“Oops, my bad. I forgot. You’re not human after all.”

After punching his stomach, I patted his shoulder and continued on. 

“But well, your savior, huh?~ I’m sad, Kaltz-san~ After all, I’m also your life savior, you know?~”

“Cough…! Cough..! What nonsense-…!!”

“No, no, I’m not speaking nonsense. After all, the one who defeated the Ancient Ghoul on the 12th floor of the dungeon was me and Nia.’

“…Huh?”

In that split second, Kaltz’s eyes, which had been contorted in pain, now widened from pure shock. He just laid there, stunned in silence. I continued on, a mocking smile was spreading on my lips. 

“Come on, don’t you remember? The mid-boss suddenly appeared and all of you except Chloe were knocked out? It was me and Nia who saved you back then.”

“W-What…? T-That can’t be true!!”

“Ahahahahaha!! Just think about it logically. There was no way Chloe could carry all three of you to safety by herself!”

“Don’t insult me any further! If you dare to say anything more, I’ll-! GUHEEE!!?”

“You shithead, it seems you still don’t know your own place, huh? You’re just the empire’s lapdog. Someone like you doesn’t even have the right to scream.”

“Guh… Cough… GUAEEE…!”

“Aww~ Does it hurt, having your stomach punched over and over? But you’re the one that tried to kill an innocent girl first, you know? Not to mention, she’s a precious comrade of yours who has saved your life countless times.”

“Cough! Cough…”

“You shithead, this is your final warning…”

Grabbing his head by the hair, I lowered my voice so Chloe couldn’t hear me. 

“I’m sparing your life this time because of Chloe. However, if you go on another rampage without caring about other people… I won’t be so kind to you anymore.”

“”Ugh… Ah… Aah…”

“And also, I have one last piece of advice for you.”

Looking at his face that was covered in tears and saliva, I spoke again. 

“If you value your life, don’t you dare lay a finger on Chloe ever again. If you do, I will literally tear you to pieces.”

Perhaps he realized that he might actually die if he continued to be stubborn. After meeting my gaze, Kaltz trembled before he nodded several times in quick succession.

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T/N: Ah~ Too bad Kaltz is still alive~ But this humiliation might be a worse punishment for him than death.