Fated to Be Loved by Villains

Without Desperation, Dowd was pretty much powerless in most situations.

In this particular one, for example; he couldn’t even untie the rope that was binding him.

That was why…

He decided to focus on the things he couldn’t do while he was moving his body around.

For example, meeting an old friend that he almost forgot the existence of.

“-“

Dowd entered his own Image World, letting out a deep sigh.

He could definitely feel something as he walked around inside.

It used to be a bland world without any color, but now, it was different.

Though they were just tiny patches…

‘Colors’ had painted themselves in this Image World. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

This meant there were people who had reached the core of his mind, unlike before, when he kept pushing people away.

“Look who’s here. It’s been a long time since we saw each other, huh?”

And he wasn’t the only person inside his Image World.

A visitor was there, accompanying him.

Seeing how that person created a terrain that looked similar to a cliff and sat on top of it, he burst out laughing.

“I swear I was about to forget how you look. Good job for not forgetting me and stopping by.”

“…Valkasus.”

As Dowd silently sat beside the Boy King who was looking up at the sky, the man made such a remark with a hint of laughter.

“You’ve undergone a significant change in your mind. I can tell just by looking at you.”

Then, he continued quietly.

“You have people who are truly precious to you now, huh?”

“…Yes.”

“Cherish them.”

His voice echoed softly.

“Because no matter how much you long for people who have already gone, nothing beats the feeling of cherishing them while they are alive.”

“…”

Those words came from someone who had experienced losing everyone he cherished.

The tone of his voice was calm, but the echo in it caused even Dowd to keep his mouth shut.

Fortunately, the reason he came to see Valkasus in such a long time wasn’t too far off the topic.

“Do you remember the promise I made when you said you would cooperate with me?”

“Yeah.”

There was a reason why the Boy King became the Boy King.

A while back, Dowd had promised to cooperate with him regarding that reason—to avenge him, in exchange for him to leave his kingdom behind in history.

He knew for a long time what pushed the Boy King to become like this.

“…We’re going to end everything soon. Including the matter with the Cursed Speech User.”

Fighting against the Prophet meant that he’d eventually face up against the Cursed Speech User.

While he had never heard anything in detail about Valkasus’ connection with that guy, he knew what the man’s long-cherished wish—the things he had worked hard for all those years, all his life—was.

That was also the reason why Dowd had let this person join him and left him alone for quite a long time.

And, there was a reason why he had left this man at a corner inside his Image World despite his considerable war power—telling him to stay and ‘study’ despite all kinds of critical situations that he had to face.

To grind the blade.

In order to prepare it for the right moment.

Even though the blade was small, it was sharp enough for the job.

“What about the thing that I asked you to do?”

Dowd asked. Valkasus flicked his fingers instead of answering.

With a stroke of his fingers, a Circle of Forbidden Sorcery was formed. As expected of someone who had reached the level of a master in that field, he didn’t even need time to prepare.

On the contrary of his light movements…

What happened next was almost awe-inducing.

-…

-…!

The world was covered by all sorts of Circles.

Each of the spirals spun quietly, yet intensely.

It was as if he was looking at the sea.

The songs of water droplets splashing between the dazzlingly blue waves and white foams.

Landscaping the endless potential of the tides, the touch of the wind, the stones, and the things inside the water.

And at the end of this ‘phenomenon’—the result of the Circles completely unfolding themselves was…

“…”

Dowd took a deep breath while holding his head.

He had to do it to keep himself together. Just a rough foresight of it almost stunned him.

Anyway…

The thing that he requested of Valkasus was like a dagger that would strike a heavy blow on the Prophet and Talker in a crucial moment.

But what he saw just now…

Was probably the limit of how far the most powerful Forbidden Sorcery User in history could do when given the time.

“Will it be enough to stop here?”

“…”

Hell yes it is.

“…It feels like we could kill even the Devils with this.”

“Sadly, that’d be hard.”

Valkasus replied with a bitter smile, but Dowd was actually serious.

“Anyway, thank you for that generous assessment. Thankfully I didn’t disappoint a friend who stopped by after a long time.”

“…”

“…Why do you look so gloomy?”

“…I just thought it’d be nice if people treat me gently like you do to me.”

Hearing Dowd said so, Valkasus burst out laughing for a moment.

Although he soon continued speaking with concern.

“By the way, is it okay for you to spend time with me like this?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m sure you aren’t the only one she dragged here.”

“…Well…”

Valkasus was talking about the Vessels, but Dowd genuinely thought that nothing big would happen even if he wasn’t accompanying them.

The Prophet would definitely lay some traps for them, but as long as they worked together, they should be able to survive.

Besides, the Prophet stated it herself that she was just testing the water. She wouldn’t go all out to harm them, at least for now.

“—You see.”

However, seeing Dowd’s reaction, a worried expression appeared in Valkasus’ face as he stroked his chin.

“I don’t think this is the situation where you can be relaxed like that.”

“What?”

“You’re mistaken about something. People don’t always move based on their rational judgment. Especially when you, the person those women adore so much, are being kidnapped. In their eyes, this is a more serious problem than you think. Besides, in the first place, only a few people would be able to act calmly in extreme situations like you.”

Valkasus continued, looking uncertain.

“While I agree with you, there’s a low chance of something big happening, but it’s still possible for them to fall into a precarious situation.”

“…Such as?”

“What if the real enemy wasn’t the one who invited them here, but themselves?”

Considering what was happening outside Dowd’s Image World right now…

His words definitely could be considered as words of wisdom that came from a wise man who had lived for a long time.

●

“-Ngh.”

Yuria Greyhounder looked around with her eyes wide open.

…How did I end up alone?

It had been a long time since the last time she was separated from her sister and was left alone like this.

While she didn’t panic right away, as her mental state had been stable lately, she couldn’t help but feel anxious about the situation..

Fiddling with her sheath, she looked around.

It was dark. She couldn’t see anything.

Anyway, the reason why she was here alone was because someone triggered a strange trap again, and the group was dispersed as a result.

“…”

The situation back then was a chaotic mess, so it was hard for her to remember what exactly happened, but she remembered part of it.

There was a series of intense disagreements like ‘Let’s do this’, ‘Let’s do that’, ‘You’re wrong’, ‘I’m right’ and so on.

Because of the bond they had accumulated so far, it didn’t develop into a full-on brawl, but it felt like none of them were in the right mind state to cooperate with each other to break through this place.

“…Is it because Mr. Dowd isn’t here—?”

That was when she realized once again how bad their compatibility with each other was.

Not only was everyone extremely self-conscious, they also lost their cool immediately at the thought of something bad might happen to Dowd.

And…

Well, this suspicion of hers might sound like a reach, but she felt as if this was the traps’ real purpose in the first place—making them fight each other like this.

It felt like whoever set this up was trying to instill something in their heads.

‘Your bonds aren’t as strong as you guys think without that man.’

—No more strange thoughts.

Yuria told herself while looking at the Severer in her hands.

She told herself that she needed to focus on the fact that Dowd was kidnapped to this place by bad people.

And that she needed to come to her senses and advance forward calmly.

Resolving herself once again, she calmly took a step into the dark.

And then…

With a clicking sound, the sound of a switch echoed from the ground she was stepping on.

“…”

Upon hearing the greatly ominous sounds, Yuria reflexively raised her sword.

At the same time, something popped up from where she was stepping

“Whoaaaargh—!”

The scream she let out while shedding tears was quite the spectacle, to say the least.

“Whoaaaaaaaaargh—!”

But, the scream of the bizarre ‘thing’ that came up from the ground didn’t lose to hers.

And then…

She noticed a familiar feeling from that scream, so she stopped and looked at the other person.

“…Uh?”

Before her eyes, holding the Severer…

Looking at her with the same frightened expression…

“…Hmm?”

Was ‘herself’.

***

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