Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 87

Chapter 87

Venom's eyes went wide. That face was much better than his usual slit-eyed, "hehe" grinning one.

I scratched under his chin like a puppy and asked.

"How is it? Feel good?"

"Amazing!! Feels amazing."

"Enough to betray Isaac?"

"I only followed him because he had my head as leverage—I was never truly loyal!"

"Hari, are you going to spare him?"

"Yeah. His ability is perfect for spying. And the snakes listen to me too."

I released Father's magic—Venom clutched his head and rolled on the ground.

"Gaaah!! Ghh...!"

"Venom, come here."

I smiled and called him. As if addicted to that brief relief, he crawled over in pain.

"Hey, hold still."

I gripped my club with both hands and raised it high. Venom screamed at the threatening posture—like I was about to smash his head.

"Wh-what!! Ghh! You're going to kill me after all...!"

"You know, my club's ability destroys magic, right?"

Venom hesitated, unsure whether to believe me.

"Trust me. I'll end it in one shot—you won't even feel the pain."

"Ssss. You're not going to 'end' the rest of my life, are you?!"

"Ugh, just trust me."

I felt like a quack doctor. Kali stomped on Venom's back as he squirmed away and nodded toward him.

"Here we go?"

"Hnngh!"

Honestly, I was teasing him a bit because his reactions were amusing. But one more round and he'd probably start crying blood, so I decided to stop.

"I'll count to three. Prepare yourself. One, two!!"

When counting "one-two-three," it's always two.

With a crackling sound, the ominous black magic circle shattered. Venom, who had squeezed his eyes shut, slowly touched his head.

"How is it? Feeling clearer?"

"Ah... is this real? I was bound for two years—and it breaks this easily?"

Blinking in disbelief, Venom snapped his head toward me.

"...Miss, what are you really? Are you even human?"

"What do I look like to you?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Something... akin to a snake?"

What exactly did Black Mamba do to me?

"Maybe, maybe not? The important thing is, you have to answer my questions without holding back."

"Just ask!"

"I'll ask, and you answer within five seconds. If I hear you scheming..." I swung my club menacingly in front of his face. As Venom nodded fervently, Kali fired a question.

"Hand over that artifact that let you see my true form."

"Th-that's not a question!!"

"Hand it over nicely?"

With a half-sobbing face, he handed over the monocle.

"Is this easy to get?"

"Of course not! It's handmade—my father's keepsake!"

Oh dear, a keepsake—too bad, I'll be confiscating it for now!

"Have you ever met Isaac?"

"I don't really know much! I just did what I was told—gathering info and stuff! I usually just play with snakes in the forest. When there's a job, I get called to a meeting place, but it was always someone else, not Isaac! They just gave me orders and that was it..."

"Hmm, what kind of orders usually?"

"Uh... well..."

"Five, four, three..."

"Use venomous snakes to poison people, or report what the snakes saw!"

Snakes wouldn't be stopped by magic barriers—pretty useful.

"Then what info have you given Isaac lately?"

"Um, well..."

Venom hesitated, glancing at me nervously. I held up my fingers to show five seconds had passed, but he was backing away.

"W-well..."

"Why are you stalling? Making me nervous? Spit it out."

"Th-that you, miss..."

"Me?"

"Used teleportation magic...?"

"What?"

I was so dumbfounded my mouth fell open. Teleportation—they must mean what happened at the lake. But there was no presence detected...

"Oh, damn it. Snakes!! Just snakes!"

Those snakes weren't magical constructs—they were just snakes. So they wouldn't be caught by magic-detecting spells.

"Just kill him."

"Come here, let's kill you."

I swung my club and approached Venom—a circular ring of fire blazed around him. He screamed, clutching his head.

"I, I only did what I was told!!"

My magic destruction ability and teleportation—those two pieces of info were what Isaac's side knew about me. They didn't know I could use others' magic or the subspace.

"You're gonna bite the hand that freed you?"

"I-I wouldn't have done it if I knew..."

"Spill everything you know."

"Will you spare me?"

I was too pissed to spare him, but he might still be useful.

"Depends on what you do."

"What do you want to know?!"

"The reason you were supposed to capture us. You must know something, right?"

If everything the snakes saw became information, the volume would be enormous. Venom squeezed his eyes shut and started reciting—lots of useless info, but some worth noting.

Isaac with many dark mages. And abducting people to use as test subjects.

"Hey, you bastard! Those guys are obsessed with teleportation magic, and you just blurted out that a young, fragile princess used it?!"

I couldn't contain my rage and slapped Venom's face a few times.

"Ow! Ow!! Wh-what strength!!"

"You need more beating. Come here. Pow!"

"Th-there's more! I know more!"

"What!"

"Bring them alive! He'll become an important shell!!"

Venom's finger pointed at Kali.

"Bring him alive? Isaac said that?"

I'd thought he'd want him dead.

"What do you mean by 'shell'?"

"Uh... I don't know that part."

A shell? What are they planning to do with Kali? Isaac wouldn't leave the heir alive—it threatens his position. So there's another reason...

"Hey, do you know about the person they call 'His Majesty'?"

"His Majesty? You mean the Emperor?"

"Never mind."

"Get up. We're going back."

Wait—how do we get out? The path ahead was completely blocked.

"Where were you going to take us?"

"Oh, that?"

Venom staggered up with his swollen face and headed to the innermost wall. Tapping around, he pulled a stone handle.

Rumble—

With a tremor, a small passage opened.

"Walk a bit this way, and you'll find the path out—connected to the entrance."

"Lead the way."

Nodding quickly, Venom stepped into the dark space. Following him, we soon saw the path we'd come from.

"Master, save!! Miss!! Miss!!!"

A ghost? The one I hadn't seen for a while came flying, shrieking.

"Please save our master!!! Hurry! Hurry!"

"What happened to Colton?!"

"The entrance! At the cave entrance!!"

I ran, following the urgent ghost.

"Many! So many! Master tried to stop them, but there are too many!"

"Who is it?"

"I don't know! Humans in black robes!!"

Running as fast as we could toward the entrance, I soon saw light in the distance.

"W-wait. Are we going out like this?! There are many!"

"You want to just stay here?"

"We need a plan! They're probably dark mages!"

"How do you know that?"

"Well... I've been holed up here for two weeks. Yesterday, I told them about your teleportation—so those swarming in now are probably dark mages with their eyes rolled back... and the one who cast the seal on me knows it's broken too."

"Ugh, you worthless bastard."

I paused to catch my breath and thought seriously.

Our forces: me, Kali, and Venom's snakes. I'd considered fleeing without fighting, but the goblin said teleporting living things together wasn't possible.

That meant we had to defeat them here to escape.

"Here's the plan."

Kali spoke up. After hearing his plan, we moved to our positions. Venom pressed himself against the wall near the entrance, and I pulled out the hat from my Goblin Club.

"Venom, if you run, I'll make sure you don't die peacefully."

Venom nodded with a half-crying face at Kali's sharp glare.

"And Hariella."

"Huh?"

"...Don't get hurt."

"With the world's strongest shield here?"

"Still."

"Fine. You don't get hurt either."

The plan was simple: I'd throw flash bombs and mana bombs at them, then spread thick fog. Venom would release venomous snakes to attack. Then Kali would take over—no mercy this time.

"Ghost, how many are there?"

"Four in black robes. Many with swords—maybe twenty?"

Quite the crowd.

"Let's go."

Hiding under the hat, I ran out of the cave and shouted.

"Colton! Close your eyes and hit the ground!!"

Colton, trembling but still guarding the entrance, dropped flat as ordered. In that gap, I hurled mana bombs and flash bombs among the black robes.

Someone hastily raised a barrier—but they couldn't stop the mana bombs.

"Ghh...!"

Fools. These aren't ordinary bombs—they're imperially crafted mana bombs!

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