I’m the Main Villain but the Heroines Are Obsessed With Me

42 – 21. If you can endure it (1)

How should one describe this feeling?

“Koatl is dead… and the savages who occupied the summit of the mountain range have been annihilated.”

It was disconcerting.

There couldn’t be a better way to express his emotions.

Mamon, who had been reading the situation through Canuina, the prophet of the Kikollan tribe, furrowed his brow.

“This is unexpected.”

He already knew that the Kikollan tribe’s strength wasn’t that high.

Naturally, he didn’t have high expectations. What Mamon wanted from them was merely to clear a path through the mountain range and reach the village below.

“If only we could have reached the village below by breaking through the mountain range… sigh.”

Although it was a small village, the people there had enough of Volkanov’s essence to stifle it.

After making Ian hesitate by taking them hostage, he had planned to push them away quickly.

However, all these operations failed.

They did manage to take the summit of the mountain range, but not without a considerable number of barbarians led by Koa’tl, the chieftain of Kikolan, losing their lives.

“Those warriors who aimed for the summit with Koa’tl have returned to the sky. It seems that the summit of the Sisyphus Mountains has also been reclaimed by the imperial people.”

“We failed… Mamon, what should we do now? Isn’t the plan a complete failure?”

The creases in Baalzepub’s forehead deepened at Katrina’s words.

He had come here to escape from Astelzia, but what was this debacle? As a great demon, he couldn’t tolerate such failure.

“Please be quiet for a moment. I’m thinking too.”

Mamon was also quite flustered.

The Demon King of Greed, who was he? The one who had amassed the most wealth in the demon realm and was even called the Golden Demon in the mortal world.

He had always made choices that kept him on the path of success, so this unexpected crisis was disconcerting for him as well.

“Hmm…”

Mamon stroked his luxuriant beard and continued his contemplation.

Perhaps it was due to his extensive experience of countless successes?

The paths he had walked provided the answer.

“I didn’t want to resort to this method, but it seems there’s no choice.”

“Do you have a method in mind?”

“Yes. It’s a somewhat underhanded approach, but it should help us recover the situation.”

Baalzepub stared intently at the contemplative Mamon.

The meaning was simple.

“hahahaha. I’ll tell you, so don’t look at me like that.”

“Don’t drag it out, just tell me… What method are you planning to use?”

“It’s simple. I intend to lure Ian Volkanov here, right to this place.”

“Lure him here? Are you out of your mind?”

Baalzepub had always known this guy was peculiar, but he couldn’t fathom what he was thinking now.

To lure the enemy here – was that even a plausible idea?

“…Mamon, didn’t you make this place a forward base to avoid Volkanov’s side’s scrutiny?”

The reason they had let the fierce and mighty Northern Wind Lion Knights commit kidnappings and murders in Kikolan was simple.

The treacherous terrain of the Sisyphus Mountains and the harsh climate might be factors, but fundamentally, it was because they couldn’t know where they were hiding.

The fact that we don’t know where the enemy is. That means we can at least feel relieved from the enemy’s attack.

That’s why Mammon and Baalzephon set up a forward base in Kicolan’s headquarters.

But calling Ian Volkanov here, who is nothing short of the enemy’s leader, does that even make sense?

“If there is no reasonable explanation, I can’t play along with this crazy plan.”

“hahahaha. Don’t rush, I’ll explain it slowly.”

When Mammon started using magic, a figure appeared in the air.

“That… isn’t that the battle between Ian and Release?”

The battle between Asmodeus’ closest subordinate, who is now being swallowed up by the demon’s mouth, and Ian.

Even for himself, it was an impressive battle.

Especially the scene where he created a fake and deceived her eyes, then attacked her side, was amazing.

But why did Mammon show him this scene?

“So, what’s the point of this? Do you want to show how strong Ian is?”

“Could that be possible? What I want to show is the weaknesses of the martial arts Ian uses.”

“Weaknesses?”

Seeing Baalzephon’s interest, Mammon continued to explain slowly.

“I’m sure you know that Ian Volkanov uses unique martial arts. It’s completely different from what human guys have been using. Not only the steps but even extending the fist is different.”

“I know that much. It looked strange, but it was powerful, so I was quite interested.”

“Do you then know that there is a fatal flaw in it?”

“A fatal flaw? What is it?”

“Right, it’s difficult to fight against multiple enemies. I analyzed it by watching countless videos, and I was sure. It’s a martial art designed with one-on-one fights in mind.”

He also attacked by adding mana to his fist and creating a shockwave.

But most of the attacks were techniques focused on hitting one person.

What would happen if that martial art was used against countless enemies?

“He would be overwhelmed by rushing enemies. If we attack him at that time, he won’t be able to do anything.”

In the prolonged battle, his steps would gradually become tangled. When a gap appeared, it would be the end.

“What do you think? Isn’t it a good plan?”

“Indeed, if it goes like that, he won’t have any options. But is there a way to lure him? It’s obvious that it’s a trap, shouldn’t we consider that?”

Of course, I also thought about that.

“Don’t we have the prisoners we kidnapped? If we use them, he will definitely come. He can’t choose to abandon the knights who serve their family while leading the clan in place of Ga-Ju.”

“Yeah, we can’t involve the knights in the situation they look down upon, so there’s no other way.”

Baal Zebub looked at Mammon with a wry smile.

“It’s something I always thought about. I feel lucky that I’m not associated with the likes of you.”

“People saying that I’m despicable on the battlefield is practically a compliment. Can you take it as praise?”

“Think whatever you want.”

Mammon smiled cruelly as he watched Baal Zebub turning his head with disdain.

“Why don’t you struggle a bit? You inferior mortals.”

He could feel the thrill building up as the nuisances were about to disappear.

***

At the moment Iain stepped forward, charging ahead.

It was a catastrophe for the savages.

“Hiss! Mon… monster!”

Crash!

“Save me! Help me! aaah!”

Crunch!

Although they were elite warriors from the Kilgoran Clan, the gap between them and Iain was substantial.

It was impossible to avoid the punch of Iain, filled with anger at the fact that his clan was under attack.

Thump! Crunch!

He swung his fist relentlessly.

With each swing, blood sprayed, and the pristine white snow began to be stained with red.

“Ugh… aaah! Die!”

Of course, occasionally there were those who lost their consciousness and charged forward, but it was futile.

“Aether.”

“Kuh! Ack!”

Thud!

The body of the person who fearlessly aimed for Iain’s back exploded.

Iain casually brushed off the disappeared blood of the person who had no form and nonchalantly looked around.

“You’re the last one.”

One savage huddled in a corner, trembling in fear.

His pupils seemed to quake as if there was an earthquake, and he stared at Iain with a weak dagger lying on the ground in front of him.

Although it was clear that he didn’t want to fight.

“I have no intention of letting them live.”

Ian had no intention of relenting. Wasn’t there no need for that from the beginning?

“Even if you spare them, these bastards won’t change.”

Will showing mercy and sparing them bring any change?

“That’s an absurd notion.”

Ian never thought that way.

Those who survived in this hell would harbor hatred for Volcano and that emotion would pass on to his own children.

“And those children will try to attack the family again.”

Even if he spared them, there was no real gain. These guys even dared to play around with the deputy commander of the Northern Lion Knights.

Those who threatened the knights. There was no reason to spare them.

Thunk!

“Ah! Spare us! Spare us!”

The barbarians, sensing death, spat out muffled imperial words.

Like a dying insect, the struggling man was thrown towards a tree.

Crunch!

Thud!

A disgusting sound echoed as the man fell to the ground. There was no movement. His head was shattered, and he died instantly.

“Phew…”

Exhaling a misty breath, Ian looked around.

“They’ve committed quite a lot of sins.”

The smell of blood mingled with the stench of the floor and the corpses pricked at Ian’s nostrils.

The Sisyphus Mountains, once boasting pristine beauty, were now stained crimson by Ian’s actions.

How am I going to clean this up… It was a moment of awkward contemplation.

Gasp!

“Um… Are you alright, Eri?”

“Your hands are covered in too much blood… If you expose them in this state, you might get caught.”

A warm sensation began to spread in Ian’s hands, which had lost feeling.

Eri had summoned spirits to cleanse Ian’s hands.

Squelch! Gasp!

Using warm water created with the help of fire and water spirits, Eri wiped Ian’s hands clean, and only then could she ease her worries.

She smiled with a more relaxed expression.

“I don’t know how shocked you were when you first ran out… at least say something.”

“It was unavoidable. I couldn’t afford to leisurely ignore the screams of the knights.”

“But please say something next time. I worry when you go alone and something might go wrong.”

‘Worried….’

Ian nodded silently as he listened to her words.

Certainly, considering Eri’s situation, it must have been a mentally exhausting situation.

A knight running into a place crowded with countless enemies, all while yelling desperately?

Moreover, the situation where a barbarian even captured a hostage. It is natural to worry in such a situation.

However, Ian had his own thoughts as well.

‘Now that Nathalian has regained his divine power, there should be no problem no matter how many barbarians gather.’

In the previous case, it ended with ‘he has grown,’ but this time, it was different.

If the system is making such a fuss, there must be a reason. That’s what Ian thought.

He wanted to test his power against the barbarians.

‘In the simulations, I achieved fairly good results.’

The power that allowed him to fight almost on equal footing with his master, Alex, who was an expert superior.

Ian recalled the moment of the simulation.

‘It was amazing. It felt like a bombing raid.’

It was the time when he had only used a part of the newly acquired power and still destroyed his surroundings.

‘I wanted to see if it was possible in reality.’

In the end, using the newly acquired power was out of the question this time as well.

It’s a shame. But what can you do? Releasing power in an undeveloped mountain range is an impossible task.

He should be satisfied with testing the reflection of Ro Aius’s attack.

It was during that moment when he was lost in his thoughts.

“Squad leader. Ulken Vice-Captain has just been transported under the mountain range. There are additional matters to report.”

Eri, who was looking around, approached.

Taking a deep breath, she cautiously spoke.

“There is no damage to the village you were concerned about. Knight Perando, who was on guard duty, quickly requested support, and thanks to Ulken Vice-Captain’s control, rapid deployment was possible as they were importing equipment.”

“That’s fortunate. Perando…. he was a knight who was killed by the barbarians. Find out information about his parents. I will personally express my gratitude to them later.”

“Understood. In addition, Ariel Volkanov’s party has been assigned to the location where the barbarians are most concentrated.”

“Is this the most crowded location?”

When Ian asked, Eri nodded her head.

“Yes. We’ve allocated it that way because we believe it’s possible to sweep through the enemy using the True Strike of the Holy Sword.”

“I understand.”

Certainly, using Ariel to deal with the barbarians while minimizing the Knights’ casualties would be a good strategy.

Most of the barbarians would be swept away by the True Strike, and the remaining members wouldn’t be able to escape the bombardment from her party.

“And Ariel seems to be feeling a sense of crisis right now. She’ll work hard, I’m sure.”

After all, she’s staking her life on becoming the leading figure. He needed to do his best to keep the barbarians at bay.

“I get it. So let’s go down the mountain now with the bodies of the remaining fallen warriors.”

“Captain… there’s something I haven’t mentioned yet.”

“What is it?”

“… According to Vice Captain Wilken, there’s a watchtower near this area.”

“That’s possible. One watchtower alone can’t cover the entire mountain range.”

There were likely watchtowers placed at regular intervals.

“Is there a problem with the watchtower?”

“Yes. According to the recent information, when they checked the other watchtowers, about 20 knights who were assigned to border duty have gone missing. Given the signs of intense resistance, we should consider the possibility of abduction.”

“Abduction…”

Of course, being taken prisoner in a war is common.

However, the reason Eri reacted so seriously was simple.

‘Kicolan are the ones who cruelly kill living humans as offerings.’

These believers of demons had a history of hunting hunters or kidnapping and brutally killing villagers living below the mountains.

‘And as soon as they capture prisoners, they quickly kill them to offer them.’

If they didn’t quickly identify the enemy’s base, there was a possibility that the knights who had fought for her would end up as corpses.

To save the prisoners, they needed to find out the enemy’s base.

She was thinking about how to find their hidden base when it happened.

Swish! Thud!

An arrow flew towards her feet.

At first, she thought it was an enemy attack, but that thought disappeared when she saw the note attached to the arrow.

“Captain! Are you all right?”

“Don’t worry. That wasn’t an attack on me.”

As expected, there was a high likelihood that the enemy had flown to communicate.

Was Ian’s thought correct?

Carefully unfolding the note, a map appeared.

In the center of the map, there was a red circle drawn with the Sisyphus Mountains.

Beneath it, a brief message was written.

“If you want to save the knights, come here alone… If you bring others, I will kill all the hostages…”

Ian checked the note and calmly folded the map and put it in his pocket.

Certainly, it was normal for one’s heart to race when receiving such a note, but why?

“If they’re going to reveal their location on their own…”

It would be the right thing to annihilate them.

Seeing the faces of those who had revealed their location themselves, Ian couldn’t help but smirk.