When the Villain Joined the Knights to Avoid Doom Flags, but Somehow the Heroines Started Approaching Him - Chapter 40: Senior vs. Mid-Boss

Chapter 40: Senior vs. Mid-Boss

“…I’m the big sister, so there’s a lot I have to do.”

Click.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the dimly lit hallway of the villa, illuminated by the moonlight.

“…My little sister is a handful, always causing trouble, and I need to earn money to keep us going.”

“And?”

“…That’s why killing you is just another job I need to get done.”

Chloe slowly reached out and touched the side wall.

In the blink of an eye, the wall disappeared—and reappeared right above Celia’s head as a solid slab.

Without hesitation, Celia swung her threads, slicing the falling wall apart.

“…So, threads are your weapon? That’s not very knight-like.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

This time, Celia swept her long, extended threads in a wide arc.

“Originally, the term ‘knight’ referred to mounted warriors. It encompassed people who wielded various weapons like swords, spears, and bows. But nowadays, the word is vaguely associated with swords alone, with no clear definition.”

Her threads, vibrating faintly, cut cleanly through the pillars and walls as they moved.

What would happen if you touched them?

The way they sliced through solid objects like paper made it easy to imagine the answer.

“So, it shouldn’t be a problem for someone with an unusual weapon like this to exist, right?”

“…Well, I guess it’s fine.”

Click.

For some reason, footsteps sounded from behind.

“…It doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t hit.”

Chloe’s magic allowed her to teleport objects.

While there were some limitations, she could move anything—her own body, others, or nearby objects—to any desired location.

Which meant—

“…I can do things like this, too.”

She pulled out a test tube from her pocket.

Its contents were unknown, but the sight of the reddish-purple liquid sent a chill down Celia’s spine.

“How distasteful…!”

Reflexively, Celia yanked the threads behind her and stepped back.

The reddish-purple liquid splashed onto the spot where she had just been, causing the floor to bubble and dissolve as if it had rotted away.

“Honestly… not even a moment to relax.”

“…Why would anyone relax?”

Chloe touched the wall beside her.

“…Up until now, I’ve never had the chance to relax. Even the slightest slip, and I’d be wiped out. I couldn’t survive.”

A wall appeared above Celia.

As soon as she sliced through one, another came crashing down in its place.

Even as she swung her threads, Chloe would simply reappear behind her without a sound.

“…To stay with my precious little sister, I always have to give it my all. I just do what needs to be done with everything I’ve got.”

For an abandoned child, there was no one to rely on, no safe haven to turn to.

Even as a child, if they let their guard down, they’d be exploited, hurt, and lose everything.

—As long as they could survive, nothing else mattered.

She had no mercy for others.

She would take everything from them if it meant protecting her own world.

“…You, living in such a sweet and easy world, wouldn’t understand, would you? But that’s fine… I don’t need you to understand. Like always, I’ll just take what I need.”

This time, instead of a wall, a small, ordinary pebble appeared.

Celia’s focus shifted briefly to the unthreatening stone—exactly the opening Chloe was waiting for.

She moved behind Celia, reaching out with her small hand to strike at her neck—

“Take from someone? Who, exactly?”

—But before she could.

A heavy kick slammed into Chloe’s stomach, driving the air out of her lungs.

“Ugh!?”

“Know your place, brat. That kind of thing only works when your target is weaker than you.”

Chloe’s small body tumbled down the villa’s hallway.

Her pride had been in avoiding attacks altogether, so her lack of resistance to pain left her coughing violently.

“Gah… cough… h-how…!?”

How had Celia known where she was?

She thought she’d forced Celia’s attention away with the pebble.

No—more importantly, how had Celia guessed the exact spot she’d teleported to in an instant?

“If you want to divert attention, it doesn’t work if you stay within their line of sight.

Click.

This time, Celia’s footsteps echoed as she walked toward Chloe.

“A cute junior of mine told me something interesting… apparently, a girl who can teleport objects needs to touch them for her magic to work.”

Celia recalled a conversation she’d had with Yulis not long ago—

“I hate to admit it, but between the two sisters, the older one is definitely more troublesome. It’s impossible to aim at her since she shifts her position constantly.”

“Hmm… so what’s the solution?”

“She can’t teleport anything without touching it. Whether it’s an object or part of a person’s body, the rule is the same. If she’s going for a guaranteed kill, she’ll probably try to teleport just the head to finish it.”

A faint smile formed on Celia’s lips.

“Then, all I need to do is aim for that moment. The moment she steps into my reach… the moment she’s so sure of her victory that she lets her guard down.”

“B-But! How would you know where I am…!?”

“It’s obvious—the blind spot. Like I said before, if you’re trying to divert attention, it doesn’t work if you’re in someone’s line of sight.”

Anything in plain view naturally draws the target’s awareness.

If her method involved teleporting the head to kill her opponent, she wouldn’t pick a moment when she was being directly watched.

To ensure success, she would definitely aim for a blind spot, outside her opponent’s awareness.

So, the solution was simple.

No matter what happened, Celia only needed to focus on the blind spot.

“But… b-but…! As long as I can touch you, it’s still my win!”

Chloe, her movements shaky and unsteady, slowly forced herself to stand.

“I’ll rip off your hands, your feet, your neck, your chest—everything! I’ll tear your limbs apart and leave you to die in disgrace! Nothing pisses me off more than listening to some smug lecture from above… so I’ll kill you, messily, miserably, beautifully, and brutally!”

A voice filled with madness and irritation.

If a stranger heard such words coming from a young child, they would no doubt be shocked.

“Sigh… You really are sisters, aren’t you? Even your craziness feels like it runs in the family.”

With a deep sigh, Celia tugged one of the threads she had extended.

Above Chloe’s head, the wall she had previously removed collapsed, completely blocking her view.

For some reason, Chloe gasped sharply at this development.

“!?!”

“I don’t know how he figured it out, but it seems you can’t use your magic unless you can see your destination, right?”

Through the gaps in the rubble, faint moonlight trickled in, illuminating Celia’s smirking lips.

“Now then, here’s a little question.”

Click.

Once again, the sound of Celia’s footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Earlier, I said I threaded the entire building to detect movements. So, if I were to slice through all the pillars, floors, and walls with those threads… what do you think would happen to this villa?”

“Y-You can’t be!”

For the first time in a while, Chloe looked genuinely panicked.

So much so that, in her desperation, she tried to move straight toward Celia to grab her neck, abandoning her usual strategy entirely.

“If I can’t catch you, I’ll just destroy the entire stage.”

But before she could—

“Well, even if the building collapses, there’s no one else inside, so it’s not a problem. Someone else can handle the repairs anyway.”

And then, just like that—

Chloe and Celia, both of them, were caught in the clean and complete collapse of the villa.

♦♦♦

Bathed in moonlight, the ice barrier and lake shimmered with an ethereal beauty.

From beneath the rubble of the collapsed villa, Celia slowly crawled her way out.

“Honestly, I can’t tell if my luck is good or bad…”

Sitting down amidst the debris, she let out a small, wry smile before pulling her arm free from the wreckage.

In her hand, she held a girl with black-and-pink hair—

“Well, lucky for you, you’re alive. Or… is that really lucky? I guess killing you might upset my junior, so let’s just go with ‘good’ for now.”

The girl in her grasp had lost consciousness but was still breathing steadily.