The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines
chapter-209

Kuaang-!

Crackle-!

Crackle-!

From the left, the right, the front, the back, and above.

Even though Ferzen couldn't see Gremory's movements, there were only five possible directions from which she could launch an attack.

The previous heads of Brutein, who were protecting Ferzen, skillfully countered her attacks with their coordinated moves.

Rumble-!!

After a thunderous clash of fists and swords that reverberated through the air, the previous heads of Brutein pushed her back.

Gremory pushed backward and spun in the air before extending her leg to the ground, and gracefully regained her balance.

'Is it because of his extreme patience or...'

Even though it seemed like he could use magic to forcefully create an opening through the corpses he controlled,

Ferzen didn't do that. He continued to hide behind the protection of his predecessors and defend himself.

Was he trying to conserve his magic power as much as possible, only using it as his secret weapon to deliver the final blow?

Or was he simply trying to make her aware of it?

'It doesn't matter either way. It's not enough to make me dance to his tune.'

Gremory straightened her legs and swiftly slid across the ground, narrowing the distance in an instant.

At that moment, the heads of Brutein, closely following her movements, reacted flawlessly and swung their swords.

Gremory blocked three out of the four swords that came at her, leaving no blind spots.

Squeeze.

Then, as the last sword approached the space between her legs, she brought her knees together to halt it before twisting her knees counterclockwise.

Shatter-!!

Unable to withstand the full force of her strength and magic power, the sword cruelly shattered.

After that, seizing the opportunity that presented itself, Gremory thrust her legs forward and mercilessly kicked the upper body of Damien, the 13th head of the Brutein family, who stood before her.

Boo—m-!!

No, could it even be described as a mere kick?

Unable to react to the movement of her magical body, the upper body of the 13th head of Brutein was separated from its lower body, still standing on the ground, and passed by Ferzen...…

Boom-!!

The upper body collided with the crumbling cliff, turning into a mess of flesh and stone fragments.

Rumble-!!

Boom-!!

At that moment, Gremory couldn't help but wonder about Ferzen's expression upon witnessing the destruction of his proud ancestor's body.

So, when the remaining previous heads of Brutein exerted all their strength to press against her, Gremory effortlessly blocked their attacks and created distance between them.

"......"

And Ferzen, completely detached from the remains of the 13th head of Brutein─Damien Von Mark Brutein ─ in front of him, shifted his distinct red eyes towards Gremory.

"Are you angry?"

Like a winter that follows.

Ferzen's face appeared calm and cold.

But Gremory knew.

Deep down, he was seething with rage.

"Your current demeanor contradicts your earlier words."

"......"

"The number of your Empire's soldiers who have perished thus far must be in the hundreds. Yet, you never show anger for them. Isn't it too late for you to be angry just because someone who was already dead has died again?"

"......"

"Even if it's feigned hypocrisy. You're no different from me. Why should we feel anything when our tools break, even if we've never used them before, right?"

Without uttering a word, Ferzen simply adjusted his sleeves.

Thump-!!

Then, alongside Isabel who stood beside him, they each took a step forward and lightly tapped the ground.

"......!"

Shook-!

Boom-!!

In an instant, the earth around them collapsed, revealing a dark abyss below.

As the ground beneath their feet crumbled, the entire surrounding area followed suit, descending into darkness.

After the ground beneath them collapsed, the entire area continued to crumble.

No matter how powerful she was, possessing a body that transcended human limitations, how could she close the distance between herself and her enemy if there was no ground to step on?

On the other hand, to prevent himself from slipping, Ferzen adjusted his stance and created a path of ice for the remaining heads of Brutein to attack Gremory.

Gremory scoffed at his one-dimensional thinking and continued to descend while defending against the relentless assault from the past heads of Brutein.

She attempted to step on the ice they were using, but every time she did, the ice vanished into thin air without a sound.

He was still able to think clearly, even in his fury.

However, I still don't quite understand why he did this.

Manipulating such a massive amount of earth would undoubtedly require a significant amount of magic power.

Yet, if a human who had reached the pinnacle of the Auror Knight fell from this height into the bottomless pit...…

She doubted that her entire body would shatter and turn into a mushy mess.

Even if her movements were restricted, their attacks would not be able to kill her in the end.

‘Seriously……’

Was his attack nothing more than a simple outburst of anger driven by impulse?

Crack—!

Halfway across the expanding abyss, the formation of the ice road ceased.

In response, Gremory met Ferzen's red eyes, peering down at her from above, and gracefully descended.

However, no matter how long she waited, the sight of the bottom seemed to grow no closer. So, Gremory turned her body mid-air, clinging to the wall of the bottomless pit, and gradually halted her endlessly accelerating body. Only after coming to a stop did she regain control of her irregular breathing.

"Phew..."

And then, after that brief pause,

She thrust her clenched fist towards the ground in front of Ferzen, which had transformed into a pillar of earth for him to stand on.

Rumble-!

Crack-!

Like a swan taking flight, it was an elegant posture devoid of unnecessary movements.

Slowly, the cracks that formed around the point where her fist made contact with the ground spread out like a massive spider web.

Rumble-!!

As the towering ground began to tilt, Gremory held onto it with both hands, using the recoil to strengthen her legs...…

──!

In an instant, she shot out of the bottomless pit she had fallen into and ascended back to the surface.

Thunk!

But before that, she swiftly retrieved two daggers from her chest pocket and unhesitatingly plunged them into the collapsing pillar of earth.

Pang!

Just as Gremory faced the vast blue sky, a burst of air erupted, announcing her movement that had finally broken the sound barrier.

At that moment, a transparent thread connected to the daggers, which had sunk into the bottomless pit along with the pillar of earth, fluttered like a reed.

However, in the midst of such chaos, only a select few would be able to notice it.

Gremory soon came face to face with Ferzen, who stood on the ice road connecting the land where her allies were battling the enemy...…

Squeeze-!!

She gripped the sturdy wires, specially crafted to her specifications by skilled blacksmiths, with both hands, crossing her arms and pulling forcefully as if they were reins.

Slash-!!

The wires, infused with her immense magical power, sliced through the collapsing earth-like paper, lashing toward Ferzen.

If they made contact, his body would be cleaved into four pieces by the diagonally intersecting wires.

That's right.

If they could reach him.

Crackle-!!

As if commanded, Isabel, standing beside Ferzen, consumed a large amount of his magic power and extended her slender finger, drawing a line in the air.

From the depths of the pitch-black abyss, an unending pillar of ice, freezing everything in its path, materialized.

"......"

Naturally, Gremory and the wires she was pulling froze in place, ceasing all movement.

Wiggle-!!

No, looking at her body which still could move inside albeit minutely, Gremory thought that it was definitely an ice that had its original characteristics customized.

For ice that should normally have solid characteristics, it felt subtly soft.

It felt like the inside of the ice that was tightly encasing her body as well as the wires she was pulling had a tremendous water pressure swirling in many directions.

If she ever tried to rapidly climb against the flow to the surface, she felt like she would either be swept away or stop in place.

Like a principle that was not much different from that, the tremendous resistance created an illusion as if everything had been frozen and time had stopped.

Indeed, this was the extent of an Apollyon-level elemental wizard ability.

After all, she also knew what kind of person Isabel, who worked for Ferzen, was.

Feeling the power in front of her, a new kind of admiration bloomed in her heart.

But why did he unleash this kind of power?

There would be no way that the reason he unleashed such powerful magic was to simply avoid a crisis.

And as if that prediction was correct, the inside of the ice pillar as well as its exterior began to react strongly..….

Sizzle-!!

The inside instantly became warm and began to emit enormous amounts of high-temperature water vapor.

It was a contradictory form of transformation that could only be performed by a high-level elemental wizard.

Only the ice on the inside of the pillar had its temperature rising, turning it into hot ice. The vapor that was generated by the disharmony between the hot ice inside and the cold ice outside quickly engulfed Gremory's body.

Even the collapsing earth that was trapped inside it, just like her, melted as it could not handle the heat and gave off a sulfur-like smell.

However, the water vapor that was generated by the melting of the large ice pillars did not drift toward the battlefield on the side.

After all, it naturally began to be sucked into that abyss-like hole that seemed to have endless depth.

‘……Was this your intention all along?’

Is it really possible for him to display such a fighting style, considering the safety of his allies, when he has me right in front of him?

Gremory smirked, realizing that the anger he had shown her before was merely an act.

Clearly, this water vapor was not magic, but simply a natural phenomenon, a byproduct of the intense heat.

After all, the magic that enveloped her body did not block it.

What happened to her body, exposed to the vapor, was of no consequence.

However, if she wasn't careful, taking a breath could instantly burn not only her airway but also her lungs.

But did he think that she would step onto the battlefield without anticipating this kind of development?

Using magic to create a simple natural phenomenon to catch opponents off guard was a characteristic tactic of an elemental wizard...…

However, it had been used too many times to the point where it no longer caught anyone off guard.

Therefore, Gremory finally decided to reveal the power of the monster summoned by the warlock of her empire.

Crunch-!!

The creature that had been silently attached to her belly button, like a pupa,

Split in an instant and engulfed Gremory's upper body.

As a monster belonging to the first level of the abyss, its abilities were weaker than those of higher-level monsters.

However, its unique ability to multiply was able to completely shield Gremory's body from the scorching hot steam.

Immediately after fulfilling its purpose, the monster vanished.

As Gremory searched for Ferzen, who had yet to make an appearance amidst the steam being sucked into the bottomless pit...

She calmed down after confirming that the ice road was still connected to the ground where her allies and enemies were locked in battle.

With a little more force, she could break the ice path she stood on and shoot out using the rebounding force.

However, she didn't do it intentionally and instead chose to make her presence known to Ferzen.

At that moment, the ice road trembled,

Ferzen must have sensed her presence.

But, even though he had time to slightly move his head,

He wouldn't have enough time to manually control the corpses of the previous Brutein heads, unlike before when they moved automatically.

It wasn't arrogance or a conceited mindset.

It was a clear confidence on her part.

Soon, she shot straight towards Ferzen, who stood beyond the ice road.

Sizzle-!!

The scorching steam, not fully dissipated, covered her skin and sizzled like cooking flesh...…

However, the pain would only last for a moment.

On the contrary, thanks to the steam enveloping her, the previously autonomous moving heads of Brutein wouldn't be able to react to her movements.

Especially Ferzen, as a warlock, wouldn't be able to react in a split second.

Paaa-!

Beyond the ice road, completely obscured by vapor,

Ferzen's back, as he spread a curtain of transparent ice to shield himself from the steam, came into view.

And as Gremory approached, Ferzen was turning his back to the direction where he had felt the tremor on the ice road a moment ago.

However, Gremory's eyes didn't focus on Ferzen's vulnerable back.

Because the moment she got within striking distance, what her eyes beheld was…..

"Huuuu...…"

The door to the third floor of the underworld, its sign clearly displayed.

She didn't even know when it had opened.

And despite the door being open, there was no sign of any monsters that should have emerged from it.

Her sixth sense, transcending human limitations, sensed something there.

Rumble-!!

At that moment, Gremory halted her outstretched hand, leaving only about 1 cm of space between her fist and the back of Ferzen's head.

No, she didn't halt it.

To be precise, she was halted.

Paaaat-!!

With a sound resembling a whip striking a wall.

The tremendous kinetic energy contained in her fist created a powerful gust of wind, dispersing the scorching vapor that had surrounded her like fog in all directions.

In the end, she saw it.

A dark shadow floating in the air, a place where it shouldn't be possible for it to exist.

... At the same time, she felt it.

A chilling sensation that sent shivers down her spine, something she had never experienced before in her life.