Villain: 10x Rewards Begins With The Protagonist's Mother

"Is this the right place?" Freya asked in a doubtful tone as the trio looked at the rundown bar in front of them.

The Red Eye.

The neon sign above the door was barely holding on, flickering nonstop.

Corbin opened his mouth to explain that it was just a cover, but Dante beat him to it.

"It’s this way, right?" Dante was already standing in front of an alley beside the bar.

’Oh?’ A look of surprise flashed on Corbin’s face for a second before he nodded.

"How did you know?" Felix asked casually.

"Yeah, have you been to this place before?" Freya spoke up, already suspicious.

"Haha, I was just asking. I didn’t expect it to be right." Dante said with a shrug.

’Was it really a fluke?’ The three of them had the same thought, and none of them believed him.

As Corbin led the trio down the narrow alley, a few guys loitering around saw him coming and got out of the way without being told.

"So," Corbin glanced back at them while walking. "You guys got names, or should I start calling you mask number 1, mask number 2?"

"Jester." Dante said.

"Two Punch Man." Felix said.

Corbin waited for the third.

"...Kitty Crusher." Freya forced out like it cost her a year of her life. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Corbin stopped walking and turned around with surprise all over his face.

He clearly wanted to say something, but seeing the murderous aura pouring off her, he wisely kept his mouth shut and kept walking.

"So can I ask why you guys are going after White Tiger’s bases?" He asked in a prying tone as curiosity got the best of him.

Even their spies couldn’t dig up anything useful, and they heard the higher-ups at White Tiger were just as clueless.

"What did the White Tiger Union do to you guys?"

"They killed my brother." Dante said casually.

The trio kept walking while Corbin stopped in his tracks.

He looked at their backs, especially Dante’s, and something about the way he said it so easily made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A lot of people had similar reasons for joining their organisation, but he had never felt anything like this from any of them.

’W-white Tigers really messed up this time.’ He gulped, feeling secretly grateful that these three weren’t their enemies.

"Hey, wait for me!"

"I’m the one who’s supposed to be showing you the way!"

Corbin caught up to them, slightly out of breath but trying his best to look like he wasn’t.

He straightened his jacket and walked past them to a heavy metal door at the back of the alley. He knocked three times, paused, then twice more.

The door swung open from the inside and Corbin gestured for them to follow.

A set of concrete stairs led straight down.

The further they went, the louder it got.

What started as a faint vibration under their feet turned into muffled shouting, then full-on screaming, and somewhere underneath all of that, the dull, wet sound of fists hitting flesh.

When they reached the bottom, the stairway opened up into a massive underground space.

A caged ring sat in the center with two guys tearing into each other while a mob of people surrounded them, waving cash and screaming like animals.

The smell of sweat, smoke, and blood filled the air.

It was loud, filthy, and completely lawless.

Corbin noticed Freya and Felix looking around, taking note of their surroundings, while Dante just stood there watching the fight in the ring.

’Just who is this guy?’ Corbin couldn’t get a read on him at all. ’Why do I feel like he knows this place better than I do?’

Dante had a smile on his face as he caught the puzzled look on Corbin’s face from the corner of his eye.

He could guess exactly what was running through his head.

’Do I know this place? Of course I do.’ Dante thought with amusement. ’How could I possibly forget about this place?’

In the novel, this was called the Pit. One of Crimson Hollow’s biggest operations and the personal territory of a Captain named Petra.

Petra was one of those rare women in the story who was as beautiful as the heroines.

Ryan actually ran into her during his revenge arc.

Normally, he would have added her to his harem. That was practically his reflex at that point.

But instead, he KILLED her.

Every time they fought, he would always wear gloves and keep his distance from her. She was one of the few female characters he didn’t lay a finger on.

And the reason was so hypocritical it was almost funny.

’He can have a harem but she can’t?’ Dante thought, shaking his head with a smile. ’Someone needs to crack that guy’s skull open and study what’s inside.’

’How can a person be that much of a hypocrite and still believe he’s righteous?’

Personally, Dante didn’t give a fuck about what others did with their lives. It wasn’t his business, and he didn’t have any right to question them.

Maybe it was because he grew up as an orphan. Nobody gave a shit about what he did, so he did the same.

Most of the time, he would only act if someone messed with his interests.

"Oi, you coming or what?" Corbin called out. He was already halfway across the arena.

Dante pulled himself out of his thoughts and followed, with Felix and Freya right behind him.

Corbin stopped at the far end where a set of metal stairs led up to a section above the ring. The glass was tinted dark, but Dante could make out shapes moving behind it.

Two guys stood guard at the bottom, arms folded, faces blank.

They didn’t even look at Corbin. Their eyes went straight to the trio.

Corbin jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They’re with me."

The guards stepped aside.

As Dante climbed the stairs, he saw the woman who made the protagonist run away.

She had red hair that fell past her shoulders and a pair of violet eyes that gave off a lazy but sharp look. Her face was the kind that could stand next to any of the heroines without losing.

She was sitting in a leather chair with her legs crossed, swirling a glass of wine in her hand.

Four men stood around her.

All of them tall, good-looking, and not a single one was watching the fight below.

They were all watching her. Like dogs waiting for a command.

Dante took one quick look and turned his head before she noticed him. He had zero interest in getting this woman’s attention.

That would only speed up her death.