Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain

She felt very strange when Atherna looked at her—it was like the feeling of being someone's favorite cake… or perhaps, like a predator eyeing its prey.

"Err… Miss Athel. Do you… do you need something?" Rebecca asked, feeling a little awkward. This was the first time she had spoken to the sister-in-law of the man she admired.

"Yes, there is!" Atherna responded with a smile.

"W-What do you need?" Rebecca asked nervously.

"How about we have a private talk—share some time over a cup of coffee?" Atherna suggested.

"Ye… yes… Athel." Rebecca nodded unconsciously, even though she still felt nervous.

Even though she was hot-headed and occasionally spouted profanities, dealing with an in-law was a whole new experience.

She followed Atherna to the private booth without saying a word, unsure of what was to come.

— The Fringe —

Maximilian arrived at the Fringe—an ever-chaotic place, yet with a slight semblance of order layered above the madness plaguing it.

He came as Maximilian, without any disguise, and could already feel several pairs of eyes monitoring him even before he stepped into the area. He could bet those eyes belonged to Strauss's people.

Maximilian looked around until he spotted one of Ricardo's men lingering near the area they were contracted to protect. The man wore a purple Hawaiian shirt—the unofficial uniform of Ricardo's gang. Maximilian didn't recognize his face, likely a new recruit.

"Hey… I wanted to ask something," Maximilian said as he approached.

The recruit turned at the sound of the voice and saw Maximilian's imposing figure walking toward him.

"Wh-What do you want?" the recruit asked nervously, his hand subtly slipping into his back pocket.

"Do you know where Ricardo is? He told my brother he wanted to meet me," Maximilian replied calmly.

"Big Brother Ricardo wanted to meet you? Who the hell are you, exactly?" the recruit stepped back, eyeing Maximilian warily.

"Maximilian. Maximilian Sterling Graham. It's good to meet you. Now… can I—" Maximilian extended his hand, trying to appear more approachable, but—

"F*ck off. Who's asking for your name?" the recruit sneered. Seeing Maximilian act friendly, despite his intimidating appearance, made the recruit assume this guy was just bluffing.

'Heh, this musclehead must be scared of me,' the recruit thought.

He was just a street rat who'd joined Ricardo's gang when he heard they were recruiting. The pay was good, and shop owners treated him with respect. He loved using the gang's reputation to scare people and assumed this muscular brute was just another pushover.

"What the f*ck did you say?" Maximilian asked, his eyes suddenly turning sharp.

The recruit flinched but quickly recovered, thinking it was just an intimidation tactic.

"Heh! Who do you think you are? You think you're our boss? The one even Big Brother Ricardo respects? You—Urgh!" Before the recruit could finish, Maximilian's strong hand gripped his throat.

"Y-You…!" the recruit gasped, reaching for the emergency button hidden in his back pocket and pressed it.

Seconds later, a large group of Ricardo's men rushed to the scene, pouring out of nearby alleys and shops. All were armed with either guns or knives all of it are the equipments Maximilian had provided to help them fight EF users.

One man leading the group immediately froze upon seeing Maximilian's face. Maximilian recognized him, it was Rusty, the military otaku who followed Ricardo around.

"Boss!?" Rusty muttered in disbelief. Then his expression turned furious as he glared at the recruit still held by Maximilian.

"Heh! You're finished even if you're trying to—Argh!"

Pow!

Before Maximilian could release the recruit, Rusty punched the guy in the face. Seeing Rusty react so violently, Maximilian let go, and the recruit collapsed to the ground—only to be met with a few more stomps and kicks from Rusty.

Pow! Bam!

"Aw!! Owwww! It hurts! Big Brother Rusty, awww!" the recruit cried pitifully, begging for mercy.

"F*ck! You wanna die!? If you wanna die, go do it yourself! Don't drag us down with you!" Rusty shouted, slapping the recruit across the face several more times.

"This is our boss, motherf*cker! Don't you even recognize his face? Even if you're new, not knowing the boss is unacceptable!"

Rusty continued kicking as the recruit curled up on the ground like a shrimp, shielding his head.

"Awww! Ouch! Big Brother Rusty! I give! I give! I'm wrong!" the recruit sobbed.

After a few more kicks, Rusty finally ordered the others to drag the guy away and "teach him another lesson."

"I'm sorry, boss. That idiot's one of our new recruits. He doesn't know what's good for him. Please forgive him. I'll discipline him later," Rusty apologized to Maximilian.

"Whatever, I'm not here to check on your recruits—he was just annoying," Maximilian replied flatly, then continued, "Anyway, where's Ricardo? My brother said he wanted to meet me."

"Big Brother Ricardo?" Rusty blinked, thinking for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think I know where he is."

Rusty then gave Maximilian the location.

— ??? —

In the open yard of the abandoned industrial sector in the Fringe, Ricardo was pursuing a man in a hospital gown.

The man in the gown was none other than Manifesto. He had just recovered from his bionic surgery, and Ricardo had found him hiding in the basement of an underground clinic.

Unfortunately for Manifesto, that clinic was one of Ricardo's gang's clients. They didn't mind trading a small favor for all the help Ricardo had done for them, so they sold him out.

"Huff... huff... That piece of shit! That doctor! Didn't they say these underground clinics always keep secrets!?" Manifesto grumbled as he fled, Ricardo hot on his heels.

With his bionics still unsynchronized with his natural body, the power of his EF was greatly reduced, and he had no choice but to retreat.

Ricardo chased him through the dilapidated area toward the abandoned industrial sector, where rusting machines and dismantled equipment were scattered everywhere, along with the remnants of several industrial robotic arms.

Ricardo entered the gutted factory where Manifesto had vanished. He walked slowly, carefully navigating the piles of debris and scrap, eyes scanning the surroundings for any sign of movement.

Suddenly, his instincts, honed through rigorous training screamed a warning. He stepped back just in time.

Boom!

A mountain of scrap crashed down from above. Looking up, Ricardo spotted Manifesto—the one who had pushed the pile, trying to use gravity to finish the job.

"Where the hell do you think you're running!?" Ricardo roared as he took off after Manifesto, who dashed deeper into the factory.

During the pursuit, Ricardo encountered multiple ambushes and traps set by Manifesto, who had arrived earlier and prepared the terrain.

But in the end, Ricardo caught up. Manifesto was finally cornered at a dead end inside the factory. Unless he could break through the wall behind him, the outer wall of the city, there was nowhere left to run.

"There's nowhere left to run, f*cker," Ricardo said through gritted teeth, his anger flaring. This bastard had killed several of his brothers.

Manifesto slowly turned around, his breathing ragged.

"Are you a dog? Chasing me all the way here?" he taunted, activating his EF to manifest a sword of light.

The moment Ricardo saw Manifesto's body from the front, he couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh? What's this? Looks like you've replaced your entire ribcage, lungs, and even your heart with bionics—nearly your whole upper torso. What happened? Got punched by a café owner and had your lungs turned to mush?" Ricardo sneered.

He knew about the incident from Rebecca and Pierre—about how his boss's younger brother fought with the black-armored man. And the only one capable of liquefying someone's insides like that was his boss's little brother, trained in ancient martial arts.

"You know that café owner!?" Manifesto's voice rose in anger, though his EF still struggled to synchronize with his bionic parts.

"Of course I know him. He's my boss's little brother," Ricardo said with a cold grin.

"How does it feel to be crippled by a blank?"

"What!? He's a blank!? Impossible!" Manifesto shouted, stunned. That kind of combat prowess? There was no way that café owner was a blank.

"Believe it or not, I don't care. All I know is—you're leaving your head here today!" Ricardo roared as he charged at Manifesto, fists clenched around his military-grade knuckles.

Manifesto met Ricardo's fierce punch with his blade of light. Sparks flew as the hardened steel clashed with the superheated energy.

Ricardo felt the burning heat but gritted his teeth and drove his fist into Manifesto's chest.

Boom!

The civilian-grade bionics creaked and buckled. Manifesto couldn't help but grimace as pain flared—Ricardo's punch had rattled his fragile, unsynchronized components.

"You…!" Manifesto growled, glaring at Ricardo. If he were at full power, he would've already fired multiple spears of light and ended this thug in seconds.

But there were no "what-ifs" now.

"What's wrong, hero? Can't fight someone on equal footing?" Ricardo taunted again, charging forward for another blow.

"Looks like all your glory was just hype—Manifesto."

Bang!!!

The sudden crack of a gunshot echoed through the factory.

Ricardo felt like a sledgehammer had struck his back. A sharp pain tore through his body, ripping from back to front. He looked down to see a gaping hole in his chest where the bullet had torn through.

"What…?" Ricardo gasped, staggering before collapsing, blood spilling onto the cold factory floor.