Fated to Be Loved by Villains

The beginning of the endgame in Savior Rising was, to put it simply, an expanded version of the Crimson Night Incident.

An ‘erosion’ phenomenon occurred, caused by those who crossed over from another dimension.

The difference from the Crimson Night Incident was that its speed was on a whole different level.

From the moment the gate to another dimension opened, the time attack began immediately. Unlike the Crimson Night incident, which was essentially a phenomenon caused by the Red Devil’s unilateral actions, this was close to an ‘invasion’ above all else.

‘This isn’t supposed to start until much later...!’

Thinking this, I leaped out the window.

No matter how much I gritted my teeth and continued my preparation, this wasn’t supposed to happen until at least a few more weeks or months. Then again, I guess there was a reason why they had been kept quiet and holed up all this time.

“We’ve been had, this is too soon.”

[You sound awfully calm saying that.]

“Because I knew from the start that I’d have to deal with variables like this!”

If it was simply a matter of the Final Chapter happening earlier, I had more than enough ways to deal with it.

“...”

The problem was that I didn’t know what other variables might pop up.

Well, whatever it was, I’d need to get there as soon as possible and put a stop to it.

I hurriedly grasp the communication magic stone I always carry in my chest.

On the other end, Headmistress Atalante was the one who was supposed to take the call.

It was an emergency contact network we prepared in advance as soon as we managed to narrow down our ‘enemy’ to just the Holy Kingdom.

There were things that needed to be done immediately the moment such a phenomenon occurred.

“Headmistress, can you hear me?!”

[—Evacuation is already underway. How long until you arrive?!]

As expected of the Headmistress, she was quick to act, even without explicit instructions.

Our first priority was, of course, evacuating everyone inside the Academy to prevent casualties, and she had already started doing that.

The Empire’s Elfante and the Tribal Alliance’s Forge of Struggle would probably cooperate with us in this regard. But, the problem here was...

“—What about the guys at the Holy Kingdom’s Academy?”

[...There had been no response whatsoever.]

“...”

[The situation is clearly abnormal...! That damned Pope...!]

Atalante’s voice—filled with indignation—flowed out, accompanied with the sound of her teeth grinding.

The Holy Kingdom’s Academy, the ‘Great Temple’, was of course a place with elite students, just like the Elfante Imperial Academy and the Forge of Struggle.

It wasn’t a place that would easily crumble under any ordinary crises.

The problem was....

You see, I had experienced the Astral World firsthand, having crossed over with Iliya once before.

Even a single creature from that place could cause unimaginable devastation in the Material World.

It was worlds apart even when compared to Pandemonium. At least you could handle them if you start from the bottom up with Pandemonium since it still had a semblance of an ecosystem.

In any case, if left like this, it was only a matter of time before everyone got swept away and died.

Fortunately...

“I’ll be there soon, Headmistress. For now, just focus on the evacuation.”

...We were in a situation where we could somehow respond to what they had in store quickly.

I felt bad for Eleanor for thinking of it this way, but it was good that this happened during our wedding. It saved me the trouble of looking for everyone else one by one.

I placed my hand on the Fallen’s Seal and sensed the presence of those nearby.

They seemed to be close by.

“Assemble!”

“...Is that supposed to be some kind of signal?”

Hearing Iliya’s bewildered question, I let out a chuckle.

I always wanted to say that at least once too.

But as I turned towards her, my smile turned bitter and whatever it was that I wanted to say just vanished from my mind.

“...What happened to you guys?”

For some reason...

Just a few of them were in good shape.

Almost all of them were seriously injured. Some were even bleeding profusely from their whole body.

What the fuck happened that made them get injured this badly? On my wedding no less...?’

“...”

“...”

Seeing that none of them were answering my question properly, it was clear that the reason why this happened wasn’t something they could be proud of.

“...Haa, nevermind.”

“...Why do you look like you’re giving up?”

“Try to reflect on your actions before saying that.”

These punks kept calling me a weirdo or a lunatic, but really, they have no right to say that kind of thing to others.

[They say people become similar to those they hangout with.]

“...”

[Put your hand on your heart and tell me that these guys haven’t been influenced by you.]

Shaddap.

Ignoring Caliban’s words—at this point, he almost represented the last bit of my conscience—I snapped my fingers towards the Saintess to get her attention.

“You still have some connections inside the Holy Kingdom, right?”

“Y-Yes...? I know a few people who might listen to me, but I’m not sure if they’re influential enough to help in a situation like this—”

“It’s fine. I just need you to relay a simple message through them. There are a few people inside the Holy Kingdom who can help us.”

I hadn’t been wasting my time, you know?

There were bound to be some people there who were friendly to me.

—I’ve also planted some moles there.

That particular card took me quite a bit of effort to deploy.

So, it’d surely have a great effect.

While thinking that, I fiddled with another magic stone.

If the previous stone was for contacting Atalante, this one was for contacting the person who had been a pain in my butt.

Alright, time to make them work as hard as they annoyed me.

“I’ve laid all the groundworks.”

The pope wasn’t the only one who had planned things out.

“Let’s go.”

To the Final Chapter.

●

“—There’s the signal.”

Marquis Bogut—the person on the receiving end of Dowd’s magic stone—grinned as he tucked the magic stone into his chest.

Then, with a light step, he strode through the automatically opened iron door.

According to Dowd’s instructions, their ‘collaborator’ was inside.

This place was a command room that gave off a strong futuristic vibe. While it wasn’t as advanced as the Magic Tower, it was far beyond the continent’s average technological level.

Bogut’s grin widened at the sight of the elderly woman seated in the center of the room.

“Well, well, well...! If it isn’t the Tribal Alliance’s Chieftain I’ve heard so much about!”

“...”

Kasa Garda stared at him with a discerning gaze as she puffed on her pipe.

Of course, in terms of reputation, the punk was someone that Kasa was well aware about.

“You probably have heard of me. They called me the Lionheat.”

“...I know of you, but.”

Kasa looked at him up and down with suspicious eyes.

He was the so-called ‘Undefeated Field Commander’. Even Kasa knew about how brilliant the punk’s military achievements were, and how he managed to secure power within the Upper Noble Association just from those achievements alone.

Yet, she still looked at him with suspicious eyes anyway. The reason for that was none other than...

“Frankly... Just looking at your appearance, you look like a complete fool.”

“...”

Ouch. That stung.

Aside from Dowd, this was the first time someone had insulted him to his face like that.

As Bogut scratched his head at this novel experience, Kasa tossed something to him.

He caught it with a puzzled expression. Its identity was some sort of a control key.

“Come and plug it in here.”

Kasa said calmly before pointing to the seat next to her.

“That’ll give you command authority over the main panel.”

“...For someone who insulted me as soon as we met, you’re surprisingly cool about handing over your authority.”

Indeed. This was essentially her handing him the full authority in a wartime situation.

Considering that this ‘full authority’ included things that belonged to the Tribal Alliance that Kasa herself ruled, it wasn’t a wonder that Bogut was left surprised.

“I trust that grandson-in-law of mine.”

Kasa continued calmly.

“The fact that he told me to hand the full authority to you in a situation like this means he’s also betting his own life on you. That’s enough reason for me.”

However, when her next sentence fell...

“In other words.”

Her voice was as cold as ice.

“The lives of my granddaughter, and her future husband are at stake too.”

“...”

“Tread wisely. If you don’t, I won’t hesitate to kill you. Understood?”

Hearing those words, Bogut stood still for a moment before nodding. He then took a seat next to Kasa.

With skilled hands, he plugged the control key into the panel and began reading all sorts of situation-related information that popped up in front of his eyes.

From that, he found that their enemies this time were formidable. Extremely so.

The creatures from the Astral Realm that would pour out of the opened Gate were disasters in themselves, but they also had to be wary of the Holy Kingdom that had been showing signs of large-scale movements.

No matter how much preparation they had done, it was the kind of situation that would drive whichever side who got attacked first into a massive disadvantage.

“If you need help—”

“Ah, no need. If anything, that would be a hindrance, actually.”

Kasa offered her help, but Bogut just waved his hand dismissively.

“...What?”

“Information. Information. Information. Information is always the key, Chieftain.”

He understood why Dowd insisted on pairing him with the Tribal Alliance.

The quality of the information they were able to provide in real time was extremely advanced.

Perhaps because they were warriors by nature, in this specific area, they were even better than the Magic Tower.

“Give me fragments of the battlefield, and I’ll be a good commander. Give me the full state of our allies, I’ll be a great commander.”

There were many types of geniuses, but when it came to ‘winning wars’.

This man’s innate talent was almost like a ‘superpower’.

“Give me all the information about the enemy...”

When those pieces of the puzzle had been aligned perfectly.

There was only one thing Bogut had to do.

“I’ll be invincible.”

Win.