The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines
chapter-219

Ferzen’s nerves that had been loosened due to Laura and Yuriel became razor sharp in an instant.

And all of those heightened senses cruelly trampled on Ferzen's sanity, stimulating his OCD.

He wanted nothing more than to break her right index finger, but he managed to suppress that desire.

Clench-!

However, his own eyes betrayed him, as they chased after her hand.

Even controlling his own eyes seemed difficult, so Ferzen bowed his head.

He felt suffocated as he restrained his urges.

"......"

For now, it would be best to naturally move past the question of "how?" in this situation.

If he were to kill her right away, it would raise suspicion among his subordinates, as she had directly come to him.

The situation and timing were all encouraging a hasty judgment on his part.

Since it was still unknown whether she had complete confidence in her actions, Ferzen clenched his hand, which was twitching to lunge forward, and opened his mouth.

"Astel!"

"Yes...! Yes! Did you call for me?"

Astel, who quietly pulled back the curtain and entered, cautiously observed the two of them.

"Escort Lizzy to the infirmary."

"Ah, understood."

Had the young Warlock come into his Lord’s tent, pale as a ghost, only to report her injuries?

Or, could it be that she was reporting a case of harassment from the other soldiers?

If that was the case, then her presence in Ferzen’s tent was only natural.

Despite his doubts, Astel couldn’t bring himself to question Lizzy as he approached her.

As he did so, Lizzy allowed her weak body to be held by her corpse servant.

Thump-.

Leaving the tent, Lizzy leaned her chin on the shoulder of her corpse servant, staring at Ferzen.

"......"

Her piercing gaze seemed to linger even after she had vanished from his sight.

Like a ghost lingering in Ferzen’s vision.

"Sigh…..."

Immediately after, Ferzen exhaled the breath he had been holding and rubbed his forehead.

Sweat trickled down his furrowed brow as if he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

Restlessly, he moved back and forth, displaying an erratic behavior akin to someone suffering from a mental breakdown.

Deliberately messing up the objects near him, he disrupted the symmetry and then meticulously rearranged them, managing to distract his mind for a moment.

As he fixed the asymmetry in front of him, his OCD was momentarily appeased, however…

Snap.

Once he finished arranging them, a strong urge to break Lizzy's right index finger surged within him.

Perhaps…She is trying to induce guilt…

Fortunately, she didn’t provide him an opportunity to act on his obsession.

But her gaze….The emotions behind those eyes…

It didn’t seem to belong to a woman who was merely ‘guilt-tripping’ someone.

"......"

Lastly, Ferzen looked upon the pile of dirt Lizzy had dropped.

"......!"

At first, Ferzen didn’t realize the meaning of such a thing, but after a few minutes, as he pieced the puzzle together in his mind, Ferzen quickly stood up and rushed outside.

His pace was relentless, never once did he realize that his whole body was getting soaked in the rain.

Merely two hours ago, he had asked for a soldier to show him this place.

"......"

Arriving at the location, Ferzen could see it,

Beside a neatly dug hole, stood the corpse of a horse, with all its legs broken,

Indeed, this must have been the catalyst for her discovery.

Or perhaps this was the final piece that completed her puzzle.

Eight years ago.

One month ago.

Two hours ago.

A series of events that repeated themselves three times, helping Lizzy to deduce his true nature.

Ssshhhh-!

The downpour intensified, mirroring Ferzen’s emotions.

Shaaaaa-!

Drip, Drop-.

Tilting his head, Ferzen’s crimson eyes vividly captured the stormy sky.

The rain, coupled with a faint mist made it difficult for one to gaze into the distance.

And the downpour muffled all the other sounds in the surroundings.

……Thus, he vowed.

The struggles and screams of the courageous lamb,

Would be buried under this downpour.

* * * * *

"......"

For 9 hours and 40 minutes.

Ferzen repeated the process of displacing and organizing the objects in his tent.

Reaching his limit, Ferzen stood up from his seat and left his tent at exactly 11 PM.

Behind him, Isabel, the ever-loyal corpse, followed quietly.

The downpour never ceased.

Fortunately, this made his journey towards Lizzy’s tent easy, as no soldier noticed Ferzen’s presence.

As he approached her tent, Ferzen immediately commanded Isabel to create a vacuum around it.

Guaranteeing that no one would hear what would happen inside.

"......"

Finishing his preparations, Ferzen tightly gripped an adorned dagged as he took a step forward.

There wasn’t a single shed of hesitation to be found in him.

After all, this wouldn’t be the first time he would shed innocent blood for his own safety.

The villain had already stained his hands, creating rivers of blood, and mountains of corpses in his wake.

Be it the soldiers of the Elmark Empire he encountered on the battlefield,

Be it the protagonist of this world - Ciel Midford,

Or the foolish brothers of a house in decline, Roer and Cesar,

There was no ‘objective reason’ as to why they had to die by his hands.

It is commonly said that Villains would rack up countless sins just to prolong their wretched lives.

And Ferzen, having accepted his role as the Villain, no longer resisted such acts.

His path was already set.

There would be no reason to try becoming a saint, hanging on the uncertain possibility of receiving forgiveness for his past sins.

Thus, as a Villain, he would walk on the path of the wrong to its very end.

…Since Lizzy had discovered his most damning secret, she had become a real threat to him.

No, not just to him.

Now that she had grasped his weakness, she could manipulate him into destroying everything with his own hands.

Until now, Ferzen believed her death was an unnecessary burden.

A sin he didn’t need to commit.

That was why he had maintained the current status quo, but now she had forced his hand.

Now, he would have no choice but to cut the knot.

What…?

Was the thing he was trying to overcome?

What…?

Was the purpose of his useless defiance?

As his OCD mercilessly corroded his reason, Ferzen realized he would never be able to overcome it.

He came to the cruel conclusion that sharing such a secret would simply become a hidden dagger always aimed at his throat.

Stomp-.

If he could, Ferzen would have turned back and left.

Stomp-.

The fact he couldn’t do so was just another proof that he would never overcome his OCD.

“......”

Finally, Ferzen entered Lizzy’s tent and approached her bed, keeping his breathing completely silent……

Stab-!

Quickly and without any hesitation,

He plunged his dagger towards her heart.

However, the sensation of a blade piercing through skin and muscles, stabbing at the heart, wasn’t felt.

Indeed, it was as if the blade stabbed the air.

Creak-.

At the same time, from behind the thick darkness inside the tent, a familiar sound could be heard…

“This is the first time I've seen your real face.”

Lizzy, seated in her wheelchair, revealed herself with a bright smile.

“I knew you’d come.”

“......”

"Personally, I believed you would try to kill me with your own hands."

"......”

"So that you could comfortably break my right middle finger while looking at my cold corpse, which would be a source of unease for you."

"......"

"Isn't that right? Because you suffer from a severe obsession."

Ferzen’s eyes, wild beyond any reason, scanned Lizzy’s body.

Thump!

Then, by controlling Isabel, a gust of wind dragged Lizzy closer to him.

Ignoring Lizzy's faint groans as she fell to the ground along with the wheelchair, he grabbed her delicate neck.

Immediately after, Ferzen prepared himself to plunge his blade into her neck.

But he stopped.

"Why...?"

Struggling to catch her breath, Lizzy opened her mouth and laughed mockingly as she lay beneath Ferzen.

"You won't... stab me?"

With her arm holding his wrist in front of her heart, Lizzy provocatively brought herself closer, but...

Ferzen's hand showed no sign of movement.

Because behind her, floating along a thread, was a doll that took the form of his beloved wife, Yuriel.

"You know."

"......"

"There’s no way someone like you doesn’t know this.”

"......"

"Even if you were to pierce my body with that dagger, only a faint breath would escape from Yuriel's body."

"......"

“I made that doll from a few strands of hair I found on the bed she slept.”

On the first floor of the Underworld, there existed a nameless and enigmatic monster.

Although the creature had no name, it had an alias given by the Warlocks who made use of its powers.

The Cursed Doll.

It had the ability to link a person's body with another.

The deeper the connection, the stronger its effects on the target’s body were.

However, in order to ‘attack’ the target’s body using this monster’s ability, one needed to first harm themselves.

The cost-effectiveness of such an ability was simply horrible.

Should you wish to kill your target you would not only need a large amount of genetic material of your target, but you would also need to sacrifice at least half of your body, just so you could inflict ‘fatal damage’ to your target.

So, just as Lizzy said, even if Ferzen were to plunge his dagger into her body, at most, Yuriel would release a single pained breath.

But, since they were ‘symmetrically’ linked now, Ferzen wouldn’t rest until he replicated the exact same conditions that created such a ‘pained breath’ on Yuriel’s body.

He would be tormented by his obsession.

His OCD would force him to leave the frontlines, find Yuriel, and use his own hands to achieve ‘symmetry.’

"Kuh...! Cough!"

But, if the connection between the bodies was weak enough…

Suffocating her would be enough.

From Yuriel's perspective, she let out a couple of dry coughs.

That's why Ferzen forcefully pressed his finger into her mouth, preventing her from biting her tongue, and tightened his grip on her delicate neck.

His reflection, shown in her bloodshot purple eyes, was something that disgusted him.

Sadly, it wasn’t uncommon for a Villain to feel such repulsiveness over himself.

Squirm-!

"!"

As he used his finger to stop Lizzy from biting her tongue, Ferzen felt as if something was crawling over the digit inserted in her mouth.

Something resembling a round insect.

Perhaps because of the lack of legs in the creature, more akin to a snail, the sensations of the thing crawling up his finger were vividly felt.

Ironically, for all his knowledge, Ferzen couldn’t recognize this disgusting creature.

But the creature’s name wasn’t important for now, what mattered was why such a thing was inside Lizzy’s throat.

There was no need to hesitate.

Such a small, lump-like insect, not even a quarter the size of his finger, was undoubtedly a corpse being controlled by Lizzy.

If that was the case, then this corpse would surely contain some sort of toxin.

And, if this had been something provided by the Imperial Family, as a means of self-destruction in case of capture, then it would dissolve upon use.

"Gah!"

Ferzen’s reaction was swift.

"......"

Despite pulling his hand, the insect wasn’t removed.

“Cough-. Cough-....I ... .Didn't expect…Your illness would be this severe…hahaha...”

Lizzy licked her lips, suppressing her laughter as she smiled warmly.

“As always…You are very perceptive…”

Grabbing Ferzen’s large hand, Lizzy guided it to her neck, where the insect rested.

Showing him the exact position.

“Heh, this little thing is filled with poison. With a single command, it will release its toxin, dissolving my organs…Melting me from the inside.”

“......”

“Of course, Big Sis Yuriel won’t die. At most, she will feel a bit sick.”

But faint traces would surely remain in her body

Small bruises on her skin, little damage on her organs, and etc…

Of course, her organs would heal rather quickly,

She would be fully healed in three days at the latest.

If she was lucky, then it wouldn’t even take one.

“But…You won’t be satisfied until you see it with your own eyes, won’t you?”

Flinch-!

Ferzen’s crimson eyes trembled as Lizzy’s voice stabbed at his heart.

Indeed, it was as she said.

Ferzen wouldn’t be satisfied until he had examined every single cell of Yuriel’s body.

“If you try anything…..I’ll simply command it to release the toxin.”

As if she was talking to her lover,

Lizzy’s voice became gentle and sweet, as she caressed Ferzen’s face.

Like treating a beloved lover.

As an Apollyon-Class Warlock, Ferzen possessed an overwhelming superiority in both quantity and quality of his mana.

Therefore, it would be a child’s play for him to hijack the control of the insect’s corpse from Lizzy.

But for the first time, Ferzen lowered his head, defeated.

An insect’s life was something insignificant.

As such, with a simple effort the synchronization rate would easily exceed 90%.

And Lizzy Poliana Claudia,

Possessed a talent to become a Warlock,

A simple but useful talent, that ensured no one would be able to hijack a corpse under her control under specific circumstances.

Indeed,

Should she reach 90% synchronization with a corpse, her control would become iron-clad.

Yes, at least at this moment,

There was nothing Ferzen could do against Lizzy.

The woman in front of him was no longer the pathetic person who had nothing to lose.

But a woman who had lost too much.