The Villain Who Robbed the Heroines
chapter-231

“Your Majesty, please give your order.”

Gremory looked at Ferzen, who was standing with his back hunched like a man attending a funeral, and turned her head to the voices of the knights calling for her.

The presence of the monster that resided on the Third Floor of the Underworld was so overwhelming to the point that the fierce snowstorm couldn't hide it.

Because of that, she struggled to detect any signs of enemy forces that should be lurking in the snow to ambush her. But in the end, her body, which transcended human flesh, managed to scour the entire area.

There is none.

If so, it would mean that he was alone.

Was that really the case?

He's probably not here alone.

But was the only one who was left alone here.

Ferzen was undoubtedly the key card of the Ernes Empire to go against her.

He should have known that.

The fact that he came here and called them,

As well as opening the gate of the Underworld by consuming goods meant that he had something to aim for.

Hmm……

This world was a place where strength always wins against any strategy.

If the meaning was paraphrased differently,

It would mean that the strategies that could be used were limited, so inferring which one of them was used should not be difficult.

One of them was having some allies pass through this snowy field while he was showing off his own existence.

If it was not that, his current action should be an extension of the battle that had been fought before. Therefore, his current action should be intended to show them once again to show off the overwhelming amount of goods he had in his possession.

“Duryan.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

“Return to the camp, gather your personnel, and then head straight to the Rubelta River.”

“I understand.”

She still did not know what Ferzen's intentions were, but in the end, since there weren't many things that he could do, all she had to do was respond to it.

After all, the power of her Empire was not so low to the point that it could not do that.

“Then……”

Gremory pulled out her sword and carefully stepped on the snow field before aiming the tip of the sword toward the creature that loomed majestically beyond the snowstorm.

“The rest of us, let’s do our best here.”

Unbefitting of her calm voice, the corners of her mouth curled up. However, rather than showing excitement, it was clearly showing a sneer.

These maneuvers of him, which seemed to be intended to show them the abundance of goods he continued to possess, looked like a cornered cat raising its fur and baring its fang to her.

Ferzen, you know, don’t you?

For beings like us, as much as we pretend to be strong, there was no time for us to look weak.

It’s small.

The back of the man who she considered as a rival,

As soon as it looked as small as nothing but a child, she couldn't hide her disappointment.

* * * * *

“……”

After looking for the traces of Lizzy which had already been completely buried by the piling snow and could no longer be seen, Ferzen lifted his head and exhaled a heavy sigh.

「An asymmetry that can never be fixed. 」

His disorder thrashed around at that fact, trampling on his countless thoughts and eating away his sanity.

It was a feeling he definitely did not like, but Ferzen could do nothing to shake it off.

Beyond the brief darkness that visited him every time he blinked, he could see Lizzy's final moments clearly reflected...…

It was proof that the curse that she had engraved on him for the last time was strong.

Despite that, Ferzen still slowly trudged on the snowy field.

After all, the point of this operation was not only to send the detached unit’s members to Rubelta River but also for him to return safely to the Ernes Empire’s camp.

He had prioritized his personal desire.

Therefore, what drove him was his sense of duty as a Brutein as well as being a Pillar of the Empire.

Step-!!

“Kwaaaak!”

The appearance of Ferzen who was walking in the snow looked as weak and unsightly as a defeated soldier. However, overcoming the 108-headed monster of the Underworld who was protecting him was by no means an easy feat.

No, thinking of it like that could be said as a way to express it while maintaining a minimal amount of sympathy for the people who were crumbling like fallen leaves.

After all, the way they stood up against the monster they were currently facing was akin to putting insignificant human history in front of a myth.

Rumble-!!

“Keu…… Ku, kuhuk……”

At that moment, an enemy knight who had his entire body torn off from the waist down fell in front of him in a parabolic curve.

It was a feast of hot blood that melted the pure white snow field red and colored it red.

On top of that, the internal organs that came out together with the blood were a terrible sight that made the viewer frown. However, Ferzen just passed calmly.

Rumble-!!

While Gremory had a tendency to use her knights as scapegoats in order to aim for his head, the current Gremory just continued the battle she had with the monster he had summoned.

However, soon after, Ferzen was able to see the enemy's magic troops stretching their battle line to block his retreat.

As expected, she wouldn't just let him go.

The fact that she paid him no heed and focused on fighting the monster from the Third Floor only meant that she had created an environment in which it was possible for her to do so.

In response, Ferzen let out a pure white breath and pulled Isabel's body out of his subspace.

‘……’

However, due to his disorder that continued to mess with his head, his magic power that was used to connect with her became unstable.

It naturally led to him having a lower realization rate than usual. Thus, Ferzen had no choice but to forcefully use more of his magic power to forcibly raise his realization rate.

In this kind of case, the cost of mana for moving the corpse would be even higher, but it was something he had to do as he had no other choice.

The only attacking means that a Warlock had without using a corpse was through transactions with the Underworld.

But, how could he open the gate of the Underworld for some ruffians who only slowed him down by repeatedly attacking and retreating?

Rumble-!!

Rather than taking on a direct approach by transforming magic into elements, the enemy's magic unit focused on slowing his pace down by interfering with the air and earth.

‘Interfering’ was something that could not be neutralized by simply recalculating the equation, so it was obviously the most effective means when there was a gap between the attacker and the one being attacked.

Crackle-!!

But Ferzen, as if laughing at their effort, just walked slowly after filling the huge crevasse-like crack with ice.

At that moment, the enemy's magic unit was already being hugged by the knights and were on their way to put a greater distance between them.

Their intention was probably to buy time by eating his magic power little by little.

However, Ferzen had no intention of going along with their antics. So he used half of his magical power to control Isabel.

Rumble-!!

At first, the only thing that appeared was a huge thunder-like noise piercing through the raging snowstorm.

Rumble-!!

But right after, from beyond the faintly visible horizon obscured by the snowstorm, the earth on both sides began to rise...…

“Th-that’s ridiculous……!”

It created a huge three-sided wall in order to block the fleeing enemy forces.

“Q-quickly!”

Was this the majesty of an Apollyon-level wizard?

On the battlefield, their Empress, Empress Gremory, was the one who was completely blocking him, so they could barely feel the gap between them and the Apollyon-level wizard.

However, when they became his target, they felt like their spine became numb.

However, they could not simply let themselves get killed here, so the elemental wizards quickly created a platform while spotting a gaunt look on their faces.

The knights who were holding them stepped on the platform at that moment and climbed at high speed.

Boom-!!

But the walls were closing in just as fast. Therefore, only half of the team was able to reach the top of the inverted three-sided wall.

Those who were looking down from the top trembled and stuck their tongues out at the unfolding scene.

Even though Ferzen was an Apollyon-level Warlock and was controlling the body of an elemental wizard whose level was equal to his level.

The plate itself was not raised.

What Ferzen interfered with using his magic was only the surface of the ground.

However, when they thought of its width and thickness, they could clearly feel the gap that made them think they should completely stop trying to confront him head-on.

Rumble-!!

Then as the three sides of the raised surface began to sink, the survivors at the top quickly braced for the impact that was about to come.

Ferzen, too, stood still before the sight he had created. But when the snow that had accumulated during the fall of the colliding surfaces began to fall on him like an avalanche, he used Isabel to transmute his magic into water before raising its temperature.

Torn-!!

Like drawing a beautiful picture in the air,

The snow that touched the water barrier turned into steam and created a heat haze.

And when the matter was over, Ferzen started to walk once again and quietly moved forward.

Even if there were people who couldn't escape, they probably still survived due to having some breathing room.

On top of that, the snow that had piled high must have absorbed most of the impact.

Maybe that's why, like a treasure hunt when Ferzen found enemy soldiers that were lying in the snow while clinging to their lives...…

Slash-!!

Ferzen sacrificed their lives one by one and headed toward the Ernes Empire's camp.