Living as a Villain -5

Gerter.

An S-class hero organization belonging to the association and heroes with considerable popularity.

Each one has outstanding skills, and their coordination is excellent. One of the undisputed face representatives of the association.

That day, they were being praised by citizens after clearing out monsters.

Their dirty deeds of the past were already laundered thanks to the association’s cover-up. They were playing hero without any worries.

Number 1.

The leader of Gerter was feeling quite good.

Money and honor were abundant, and no one knew about their dirty past.

A life lived freely doing whatever they wanted.

Isn’t it the best!

“…Hmm?”

“Excuse me.”

“You are…?”

“I have no grudge, but it’s time for you to disappear.”

The moment that feeling was shattered was instantaneous.

The black tentacles crawling around had cast a shadow over his life.

“Uwaah…”

“R-run away!”

The voices that had been cheering for them changed to screams filled with fear.

Beyond Number 1’s goblin mask, a man was visible.

He was floating in the air using tentacles.

“Consider it karma for your past.”

Karma for the past?

“Ugh… aaaah…!!”

Number 3, caught by the tentacles, screams.

The thought of “it can’t be” crossed his mind.

No one at the scene could have predicted what Kraken was about to do.

He was known to the public as a villain who understood some level of decency.

It’s a funny thing to say, but he was considered fairly decent among villains.

Although he was a pervert who chased after magical girls, he had almost never attacked civilians and always ended with just knocking heroes unconscious.

“Aaaak…!!!”

This is ridiculous.

Fairly decent? Minimum courtesy? Just making them unconscious?

Number 1 suddenly recalled a movie he had seen long ago.

It was a movie where a slime-like alien creature emerged and massacred humans inside a spaceship.

There was a scene just like the current situation in that movie.

A person hanging upside down with their legs caught by black tentacles, and eyes staring intently at them.

And soon after.

Crack-

“Uwaaaaaaak!!! Fuck!! Are you crazy!!!”

It began to fold a person’s joints like paper.

He realized for the first time that it was possible to fold a person like a box.

“Endure it. It will eventually end.”

“Kugh… aaak…!”

“…No, to make them incapable of recovery…”

Wriggle.

The tentacle moved.

It entered the body and began to rummage around.

Finally, it took out a small crystal.

The villain quietly stared at the essence.

“Dirty.”

He absorbs the essence into his body using a tentacle.

After absorption, the villain sighs.

“A nauseating taste. Just how dirty are you guys?”

Only after seeing Number 3 rolling helplessly on the ground did Numbers 1 and 2 realize.

The fact that this villain is now seriously trying to destroy them.

“…What’s decent about a villain…! One who suddenly appears and attacks!”

“Only a dead villain is a good villain. Don’t blame me even in death…!”

Numbers 2 and 3 gritted their teeth and charged at Kraken who was attacking them.

In retrospect, that action was a huge mistake.

Bang! The sound of stomping the ground and cutting through the air.

The sound echoed simultaneously. Gerter was a 3-person team based on excellent coordination. They intended to launch a coordinated attack as if two people were one body.

Everyone has plausible plans.

Until they get hit by an attack.

Number 2’s pupils shook, but it was already too late.

A solid tentacle grabbed his leg. Even his fast speed was useless against that restraint.

The tentacle was as heavy as shackles, and due to the sudden stop, his ligaments stretched.

With a yelp, Number 2 rolled on the ground. His clothes, reminiscent of a ranger from a tokusatsu show, were soiled with dust.

Kraken wouldn’t miss this opportunity. The other tentacles were already prepared.

He swung the tentacles.

Like an elephant’s leg stomping the ground, they began to pound Number 2 very finely.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

The sound of solid bones breaking.

Number 1 had to admit.

That sound was the most horrific sound he had ever heard in his life.

Number 2 was, to put it in words, like a mole. The figure of him curled up and buried in the ground.

Similarly, Kraken extracted the essence from his body.

“Now there’s one left.”

“…Kugh…”

“Don’t blame me. After all, we only fight for what we believe in and want.”

Number 1 gritted his teeth and stood up. Then he got very angry. His momentum was as if he would cut off Kraken’s neck right away.

But that was all it was. Only making a furious roar filled with resentment.

It wasn’t any threat to Kraken.

“Why… why on earth!”

“Hmm?”

“Why on earth are you doing this!”

It was a scream close to a shriek.

Number 1 felt a sticky fear. With his jaw chattering, Number 1 looked at him.

Kraken quietly stopped breathing and stood there. A heavy silence pressed down on the two people.

Only then did Number 1 realize. Kraken was hesitating. About all of these actions.

With that hesitation, Number 1 decided to bet everything. Honestly, he had no confidence to win alone. How could he fight alone when he lost even with two people!

“…Won’t you stop.”

“…”

“…You don’t seem to want to do this either.”

Kraken sighed.

At the heavy meaning of that sigh, Number 1 hurriedly rushed at Kraken… only to be slammed to the ground, breaking his nose.

At that sight, Kraken spoke candidly.

“What can I do? This is the only way to save someone precious.”

Shaking his head, Kraken spewed out tentacles. Number 1, bound all over his body, struggled, but that was all.

“You son of a-“

Whack!

“Kuhak…! I’ll, I’ll kill-“

Whack!

Number 1’s face contorted with fear.

Kraken didn’t stop there.

“If you move, you’ll get hurt when I extract the essence.”

He made the tentacles sharp and slowly directed them towards Number 1

And began to slowly break his body.

Breaking his legs so he couldn’t move, breaking his arms

So he couldn’t resist.

By the time it went that far, Number 1 rolled his eyes and fainted.

Maybe it’s fortunate that he fainted.

“Extract it.”

The tentacle that approached slowly extracted his essence.

After finishing the job, Kraken stealthily disappeared into a dark alley.

+++++

“…Phew.”

I felt nauseous.

My eyes were dizzy from the red blood.

This is why I hate doing such rough things.

I still feel like the smell of blood is vibrating in my nose.

Even after removing the gas mask and undoing the transformation, I still felt like there was a metallic smell.

It was the first time in my life that I had shattered someone so thoroughly.

“Even if they were bastards… there’s a bitter taste in my mouth.”

I picked up my phone to check the news.

The images of the Gerter members, who had been beaten to a pulp by the S-class villain Kraken, were uploaded with mosaics.

In some severe communities, scenes of Kraken folding people were explicitly uploaded.

“Now it really is over.”

At my words, Kkomul-i patted my shoulder with a tentacle.

“Hang in there. If you want, would you like to go see Noah-yang’s face?”

“I should. I need to report too.”

I slowly got up and headed beyond the dimension. The impromptu portal made by him was disposable but convenient.

I return to where I was, crossing dimensions.

There, Iris was undergoing experimentation.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Ah, mister.”

“Yun-seo-ssi. How is her body?”

“I’m investigating. But… yes, it would be possible, but I think a large essence will be needed. An essence that can change the nature of the body.”

An essence is needed…

‘The Demon King…?’

The Demon King’s essence might be enough.

However, there was one problem here.

It’s not that I haven’t tried to separate the Demon King’s essence.

If I could separate it, the enemy’s strength would be greatly reduced, and if we absorbed it, we could use it well.

The problem was that it was impossible due to the contract and restrictions with the rabbit guy.

‘So it means I have to crack the rabbit guy’s head.’

If I take him down, everything will be solved.

“…It’s nice because it’s simple.”

The final boss has changed, but what needs to be done is similar. Find and eliminate.

“It’s easy.”

I need to make a plan.

As I was thinking and pondering, someone’s hand tapped my shoulder.

It was Iris’s hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is you, right, mister?”

She must have seen the news.

The news showing Kraken turning Gerter into a pulp.

“…Mister, are you okay? Wasn’t it too much?”

“Maybe… a little.”

I smiled weakly.

“…Thank you. For doing this much for me.”

Noah bowed her head in gratitude.

There’s no need for that.

“…Noah, do you know why I decided to live as a villain?”

“Why?”

“For you. From the beginning, I climbed onto this path prepared for everything.”

“…”

“So don’t be sorry. In the end, I’m helping you as I please. Got it?”

I rubbed my face dry to clear the lingering metallic smell and stroked Noah’s head.

“You just need to worry about how you can live healthily.”

“Mister… why do you go that far? Why do you voluntarily take on such dirty and hard work by living as a villain?”

That was Noah’s question.

It was a valid question.

I could have worked as a hero from the beginning. But if I had? Would I have been able to easily respond to the dirty hands targeting Noah?

There’s a high possibility that I wouldn’t have.

In the end, a hero is a being that must live cleanly in the light. There are many restrictions.

In the end, someone has to take on the dirty work.

And that dirty work is.

“I’m an adult. I should be the one doing the dirty work. Children don’t have to be involved in such things yet.”

“…”

“The same goes for you. Someday, give up things like being a magical girl. Go to school, find your path, worry a lot. That’s how you should live.”

“…”

“I’m doing this because I want you to live such a life. Understand? I’ll do such things from now on too. You just need to be a bright and cheerful student.”

Someday, Noah might have to cross the line.

But that’s a problem for that time.

Noah at that time, Noah who has grown up properly, will think about it directly and derive the right answer.

Until then, I should help.

“…Tch, mister, you’re pretending to be such an adult. When you’re only about five years older than me.”

“Five years is a lot.”

“Alright. I’ll grow into a woman of the mister’s taste diligently.”

“That’s not what I meant… well, it doesn’t matter.”

Because Noah of the future will do well with future matters.

“So, there’s one place we need to go. What do you think, should we all go together?”

I’m just doing the best I can with the present me.

For that.

“I think it’s time to prepare for the climax.”

“Climax?”

Climax, preparation for a splendid boss battle.

“Noah, do you have a lot of time during winter break?”

That would begin not before long.