Ch.144Writing Again (2)

A villain must be charming. This applies not only to novels but to other media as well.

If a villain is ordinary and unremarkable, defeating them gives little satisfaction and is often taken for granted. The pathetic villains typically fall into this category.

On the other hand, a charismatic villain leaves a lasting impression even after being defeated by the protagonist and is evaluated from various perspectives. Why the villain had no choice but to act this way, and why they crossed a river of no return.

Finally, what beliefs the villain held, and so on. Especially when a villain appears who perfectly opposes the protagonist, their popularity increases dramatically.

In my previous life, among many villains, there were those worthy of historical record. Like Darth Vader from Star Wars, the Joker from The Dark Knight, or Arthas, the patricidal king frequently discussed in gaming circles.

A villain must be as charming and three-dimensional as the protagonist. Especially for major villains like the Seven Deadly Sins.

It’s enough of a success if their backstories are mentioned in the novel and readers find them convincing.

‘Even organizing them one by one is work.’

Now that the Seven Deadly Sins have officially appeared, even establishing their settings was work. I’ll write volume 13 step by step, but first I plan to write about the Seven Deadly Sins’ past.

To organize the races belonging to the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride is an elf, Gluttony is a demon, Lust is a demon-folk, Envy is human, Wrath is a beast-folk, Greed is a dwarf, and finally, Sloth is a kind of fragment.

The common thread might be that except for the artificial Sloth, they all have miserable pasts. This needs to be mentioned throughout the story, but it wouldn’t be bad to write it as a side story.

‘First, Lilith who will be defeated first is…’

Lust, Lilith, appears to prevent the protagonist’s party from returning to Elvenheim. Modeled after Cecilly, she’s a succubus who simultaneously uses swordsmanship and magic.

With sensual and decadent beauty, her every movement exudes sexuality, seducing both men and women, but like other demon-folk, she carries an unfortunate past.

She once loved a human man who truly loved her back, but due to the rock-bottom perception of demon-folk, she lost him before her eyes.

Afterward, like other demon-folk, she became a demon, unable to control her anger and sadness.

But uniquely, she maintained her reason and took revenge with cold hatred, catching Diabolos’s eye and taking the seat of Lust.

The reason she didn’t lose her reason is because, like Jin, she was a first-generation demon-folk, a hybrid of demon and human.

‘She’s actually a pure maiden too.’

I’ve already thought about how each of the Seven Deadly Sins will retire. Lilith falls while calling out the name of the man she loves until her dying moment.

The reason she struggled to live on after becoming a demon was to remember her beloved man longer—truly a sad and solemn reason.

‘I hope this doesn’t make demon-folk perceived as a race of sunflowers.’

It’s no exaggeration to say that the perception of demon-folk is on the rise. Since the release of volume 12, there’s news that the number of people in relationships with demon-folk is increasing daily.

Demon-folk are breaking free from the perception of being demons, gradually expanding their activity areas, and gaining more diverse experiences. Of course, as seen in the Alvenheim immigration incident, subtle discrimination still exists.

However, this too is being treated as clear racial discrimination.

“Nnngh~!”

After establishing all the settings for the Seven Deadly Sins, I stretched. Having sat at the desk for a long time, rhythmic bone sounds could be heard.

I’ll write Lilith’s battle scene referencing Cecilly’s combat, but that’s for when they properly face off, not in volume 13. In volume 13, she just fights with magic for a while and then leaves.

Xenon’s party was helplessly defeated by Lilith, and the reason is simple. Lilith has wings, and Xenon’s party doesn’t.

The merit difference between someone fighting in the air like air force, casting magic freely, and someone fighting on the ground like a land dog is enormous. Just look at how a tank, no matter how well it flies or crawls, gets completely destroyed by a single helicopter.

‘The biggest problem is after the invasion of Elvenheim…’

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. Elvenheim is, as the name suggests, Alfheim from the Biography of Xenon. I just changed the word slightly so anyone could recognize it.

And Elvenheim is not only invaded by demons but even the World Tree is occupied. As can be seen from Cecilly’s allergic reaction, mana from the World Tree is fatal to demons, but Pride, Lucifer, nullifies that.

If you ask how, let’s just skip it. I don’t know either.

It’s just mentioned that when the elves became complacent and careless, Lucifer temporarily contaminated the ‘roots’ of the World Tree.

I don’t know if that’s really possible, and neither would the Senate or Queen Arwen. I keep emphasizing that a novel is just a novel, and it’s unlikely to be applied in reality.

Though my novel is a somewhat special case.

‘Will it really be censored?’

The Senate is firmly determined to censor it, but honestly, it is a story worthy of censorship.

Even though it’s a novel, Elvenheim is not only conquered by demons, but the World Tree also becomes reduced to nourishment for the revival of an archdemon.

For elves who pride themselves on being chosen by the gods, it’s an utterly unacceptable story. Nothing is more uncomfortable than having the gods’ blessings and gifts brutally taken by demons.

But if you think about it, it also serves as a wake-up call. Long peace is enough to dull even the sharpest sword.

‘I’ll ask Arwen about this gradually.’

The most important part is what follows. After the conflict, cooperation, and integration of elf heroes and dark elf heroes, beast-folk officially appear.

Both in reality and in the novel, the relationship between humans and beast-folk is nothing more or less than one of mutual hostility.

Because of this, they have many conflicts, but these are gradually resolved as they fight demons together, and in the end, they become friends—that kind of story.

But what bothers me is that I know almost nothing about beast-folk. I know about their origins from various papers and history books in Elena’s lab, but that’s it.

Beast-folk established their civilization, Animus, only 300 years ago, and there are still beast-folk living tribal lives in various places. Books and papers are far from sufficient for information.

‘Do I really need to ask Leona?’

Seeing that she’s enrolled in the academy, Leona must have an extraordinary status. Considering she previously mentioned that she’s not just a cat but a lion or something, it’s half certain.

Technically, lions belong to the cat family, but let’s just move on. To me, a human, they’re all just animals anyway.

“Hmm…”

I stared at the ceiling with a pen in my mouth. Beast-folk don’t appear until the latter part of volume 14, and the real conflict starts from volume 15.

So there are a few months of leeway, but time flies quickly. Moreover, for more accurate historical verification, I need to consult not only Leona but others as well.

‘Should I ask her?’

From Leona’s perspective, it might be surprising, but I can just say it’s for research purposes. In return, I’m willing to grant her wishes if possible.

Coincidentally, the next lecture is history, so I can ask her then. I slightly turned my head to check the time. About an hour left until the history lecture.

During that time…

Rip!

I should call Cyris. I took out a summoning spell paper from the desk drawer and tore it in half.

The torn paper turned into blue particles and dispersed into the air, and I waited quietly for Cyris to respond.

After waiting about 10 seconds.

“You called.”

Cyris appeared from empty space and spoke bluntly. Unlike last time, she was neatly dressed in armor, not underwear.

Of course, it’s not underwear, but what’s commonly called bikini armor, so the exposure is still high. Dark elves specialize in ambush rather than direct confrontation, so they need to be light, and for better stealth, they need more exposed skin.

I closed my eyes tightly and then slowly opened them, still not used to dark elf culture. Although her mouth area was covered with a mask, it wasn’t enough to hide her stunning beauty.

“Have you been well? Nothing unusual?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what Arwen has been up to lately?”

“Nothing special. However…”

“However?”

As I leaned my face slightly closer in curiosity, Cyris answered in her characteristically dry voice.

“The Queen has asked several times if it’s really okay not to give any reward. Is it really alright?”

“I told you it’s fine. It wasn’t even a difficult task. Just tell her that seeing her give the speech was enough.”

“Understood.”

“And the reason I called you, Cyris, is for verification.”

“Verification… you say?”

“Yes.”

I handed Cyris the half-written manuscript. Cyris blinked her golden eyes, the same color as mine, and received the manuscript with a bewildered expression.

Then she looked alternately at the manuscript and me, seemingly unable to grasp what I wanted.

“I wrote a dark elf battle scene with your advice, so I’m curious what you think of it.”

“So I’m the first person to read it?”

“It’s just a middle section, but I suppose so.”

“Oh…”

Cyris’s eyes sparkled at the thought of being the first to read it. I thought she would be as stoic and emotionless as Gartz, but she’s surprisingly expressive.

Perhaps she became stiff because she rarely had occasions to show emotions and didn’t feel the need to. I smiled at Cyris, whose eyes were shining like a child who found a new toy.

“Hmm…”

“…”

I waited quietly while Cyris checked the manuscript. I could see her golden eyes moving quickly from left to right.

Honestly, I was a bit nervous. It’s a battle scene of another race, and one not well-known to the world at that—dark elves. Would it satisfy someone like her, who has outstanding skills even among dark elves?

One might think it doesn’t matter much since dark elves aren’t well-known, so I could write whatever. However, that’s precisely why accurate verification is needed.

If a strange frame is attached to them, I would not only feel sorry for those races but also face criticism. So I want to be thorough with the historical verification.

Flip-

“…”

“…”

“Um… Cyris?”

“Yes.”

“When will you finish reading?”

The dark elf battle scene isn’t that long, but somehow I heard more page-turning sounds. I suspect she might be reading the entire thing while pretending to read just the battle scene.

At my words, Cyris closed the manuscript and looked at me with her characteristic expressionless face. For some reason, she seemed disappointed.

As I was feeling a bit tense, Cyris opened her mouth with a disappointed voice.

“The battle scene itself has no shortcomings. Especially the part where you take down the demon giant by removing the Achilles tendon first to disrupt balance, and then stabbing vital points one by one is excellent. It’s actually a tactic we use consistently when facing giant-type monsters.”

“Thank you.”

“But this is a human method, not a dark elf method. If we were in stealth, we would disregard all that and attack fatal vital points like the neck first. Even if it’s a giant over 5m tall, we can instantly move to the neck through spatial leap. Moreover, unless there’s a lich on the demon side, there’s no means to detect us.”

“Ohh…”

“Remember. We value simplicity over flashiness.”

I rounded my lips in admiration. It seems I made the right decision to seek advice.

At the same time, I started leaning toward the idea of consulting Leona. If these kinds of insights accumulate, it could lead to a better quality work.

“And…”

“There’s more?”

Sensing she wanted to say something more, I leaned my upper body slightly forward and waited. Then Cyris asked with a clearly disappointed expression.

“Why am I not in it?”

“What?”

“You clearly said you would include me…”

“…”

“Will I appear next?”

I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression and then checked her ears. Though half-cut, they were still longer than human ears.

And those ears were drooping down. It seemed that even dark elves couldn’t control their ears.

“…You’ll appear soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll believe you.”

When I said that, Cyris’s ears lifted slightly, and her expression brightened a bit. Seeing that, I could only smile bitterly.

I could include her as the successor to the dark elf hero, who is planned to appear anyway. The successor to the elf hero is Kayre, whom I saw during the immigration screening.

‘Gartz also seemed to want it…’

Unfortunately, I can’t include him because Jin already represents the demon-folk. He’ll just have to be satisfied with an autograph.

“Is that all you want?”

“Hmm… if possible, please ask Arwen to send me books related to beast-folk. Beast-folk will appear in the future.”

“Understood. By the way, are you sure you don’t need any compensation? The Queen has mentioned it several times.”

“I told you it’s fine.”

I smiled and waved my hand. I already received my reward by admiring Arwen’s figure to my heart’s content during the speech.

But I couldn’t say that straightforwardly, so I made something up.

“As I said earlier, seeing her give the speech was enough. I also got to see a different side of Arwen.”

“A different side…”

“I knew she was beautiful, but she seemed even more beautiful? Just tell her that.”

“Hmm…”

Cyris looked at me with a strange gaze after hearing my words. Unlike before, it was a look whose inner thoughts I couldn’t grasp at all.

I tilted my head in confusion.

“What?”

“Nothing. Should I deliver it exactly as you said?”

“Yes.”

Cyris nodded at my blunt answer.

“Understood.”