How to Survive as a Trash Extra Villain

Chapter 101

“Hgh, hah! Damn it!”

Jaesang staggered forward. Beside him, Anette’s Red Knight trudged along, mindlessly controlled.

‘I’m… I’m alive!’

They were terrifyingly skilled. Even for Imperium Academy, these weren’t the levels of mere cadets. Silver Knights to Gold Knights. If they weren’t at that level, there was no way someone like him, comparable to a Gold Knight, would be this tattered.

‘Urgh, my arm…!’

Jaesang’s clothes were in rags, one arm completely gone. His body was drenched in blood, and his left face bore burns. His heart, squeezed dry of mana, left his breathing ragged.

‘Hah, hahaha, but I’m alive.’

He had crossed a battlefield of carnage and reached the bridge of hope.

‘As long as I’ve made it this far!’

This hideout was built over a thousand years ago. Its effectiveness was proven by the fact that it had never been discovered.

‘I’ve twisted my path so many times!’

He had escaped through the most secretive mechanisms of the hideout, weaving his route repeatedly. Now, all he had to do was reach the emergency teleportation device ahead, and it would be over.

‘Hah, hahaha!’

Once he escaped, he would use the Red Knight to kill as many as possible. Wherever they appeared, he would kill and kill, starting with summoning the emperors from the Soul Stone.

‘No one will stop me.’

All he needed was to escape. No one could follow him. There was no way! Unless they were the architect of this hideout, a prophet, or someone with absurdly transcendent intuition…!

“Ah…”

Jaesang’s steps halted. A man stood atop the teleportation magic circle.

The man fumbled and yanked something out.

“No…”

The emergency teleportation device lost its glow.

The man in a deep green robe tossed and caught the extracted item, muttering, “A top-grade mana stone. Impressive.”

Then he turned, revealing himself—a hound waiting for its prey.

“W-What, what, what the hell…!”

Jaesang collapsed to the ground, stammering incoherently as he thought:

What the hell is that guy? How could he ruin all my plans?

“It’s a bit lackluster for a gift.”

The hound’s maw opened, revealing sharp fangs.

What should he say? What pathetic excuse could save him? A noble ambition? A long-held destiny? A life’s purpose? Or perhaps a plea for pity…?

“I’ll make it quick and painless.”

As Jaesang stared at the slowly raised gun barrel, he could only whimper.

“P-Please, spare me…”

Bang!

***

The sword slid back into its sheath with a soft rasp.

“Phew, it’s finally over.”

At Prince Kazaks’ final remark, everyone let the tension drain from their bodies.

“I thought I was going to die.”

“Haaah.”

“I-I have no strength left…”

Everyone had survived. …Well, except for a few knights who followed Princess Anette. Compared to the nearly thousand rebels sprawled across the ground, it was an unprecedented victory.

“Ugh, what kind of bolt from the blue was this?”

Luri’s shoulders trembled. Her hands were practically burning from relentlessly casting her specialty, fire magic. She turned to look at Princess Anette, the leader of the now-dwindled knight order, reduced to just over thirty members.

‘The world is truly vast and full of mysteries.’

The Defardly Empire Liberation Army.

Not only did they ally with demon worshippers and infiltrate the Academy, but they also succeeded in kidnapping the prince and princess—an audacious move.

Though the details were unclear, an internal conflict among them had brought the situation to a close, but…

‘Grandfather, the Star Child, goes around hunting people like these.’

It reminded her of the Peacemaker’s Star Child. The loneliest man in the world, eradicating ‘evil’ across the globe to prepare for the ‘end.’

She was still too young to fully empathize, but this incident made her nod slightly at the nobility of his mission.

‘Will Martin have to keep fighting battles like this?’

Martin was strong. So were Gilbert’s party, Prince Kazaks and his followers, and even Princess Adela—each had formidable personal strength.

‘Here, I’m the only ordinary one.’

She felt out of place. Earlier, when they chased Jaesang, she hadn’t helped—she’d been a burden. Her weak defense had allowed Jaesang to escape.

“It’s not over yet!”

Luri turned to see Anette. The princess with black hair and red eyes, along with her knight order, still held their swords aloft.

“My Red Knight was taken by Jaesang—no, by the traitor who was Jaesang! We must find him! Even if we have to scour this entire hideout!”

Her voice boomed with command, but Luri’s eyes clearly saw it. Fear. Dread. The pain of loss. Denial of reality. The ordinary expression of someone who wished to turn back time to fix a recent mistake.

“Understood.”

The knight commander and the order responded, but… their eyes showed it too. The pain of losing a respected comrade, like Anette. And also ‘resignation’ and ‘despair.’

‘Jaesang was strong.’

He could’ve passed for a Gold Knight. …Gilbert’s party, who overwhelmed him, was impressive too, but still.

‘Finding him will be impossible.’

They’d already lost him earlier. He had slipped through even Elisha’s eyes, who was considered a once-in-a-generation talent from the Harmadun family, masters of the bow.

And that was a fact Anette, who gave the order, knew as well.

“Poisoned… he’s been poisoned. If we’re late, it’ll turn into a lethal toxin! We can’t delay…!”

Most poisons of that kind triggered within an hour. …No, perhaps even faster. Honestly, the knight was likely already dead.

“…Please… someone, bring my friend back…”

No one reveled in the joy of victory. From the inherently kind Gilbert to the confident Prince Kazaks and the arrogant Princess Adela, all empathized with the despair radiating from Anette, who had lost everything in an instant.

“Is this the friend you’re looking for?”

“Ah!”

How could she forget that voice? The voice of her beloved lord.

“Martin!”

Martin strode back through the entrance of the ritual chamber. Caught up in the battle and swept away by Anette’s emotions, they had forgotten Martin’s presence, assuming he was still there.

“Need confirmation?”

Martin held a person in each hand. In his left, he gripped familiar hair—Jaesang! In his right, he carried a female knight in red armor like a piece of luggage.

“Ah, ahh!”

Princess Anette rushed toward Martin.

“As expected of Martin.”

Gilbert nodded in admiration.

“I told you he’s a good kid.”

“Hm, a heartwarming end.”

“Tch, thank goodness…”

Elisha, Bord, and Mary sighed in relief.

“Well, this kind of ending isn’t bad.”

“Wow, incredible…”

Muller and Shuga also seemed to acknowledge Martin’s achievement.

“They’re all soft.”

“What a bunch of fools, aren’t they?”

“….”

Except for Prince Kazaks, Princess Adela, and me, Luri.

“Stop.”

Martin released Jaesang’s hair from his left hand. Then, gripping his hunting rifle,

‘I can see Martin’s heart.’

he slowly raised it, aiming at Princess Anette.

‘A chance? Killing intent? …He’s hesitating, but…’

As the knight order drew their swords and aimed at Martin, and the protagonist’s party gasped in shock,

‘His killing intent is stronger…!’

Martin’s barrel didn’t waver.

“The Defardly Empire Liberation Army.”

The charges spilled from his lips.

“A secret society plotting the revival of a war criminal nation. They built an illegal hideout beneath the Imperium capital, schemed in the shadows, allied with demon worshippers to summon demons, and even learned their dark arts. In broad daylight, they attacked the Academy, kidnapping the prince and princess of the Imperium Empire, along with heirs of the Four Great Ducal Families and the Elidore Marquisate.”

One step, two steps. Martin advanced, pressing the barrel right against Anette’s forehead.

“And you, Princess Anette, are of pure Defardly royal blood, the most suitable vessel for the past emperors. A being who could become akin to the ‘end’ of the world…”

His finger rested on the trigger.

“…I’ll kill you here to eliminate any future threats.”

It seemed ready to pull at any moment.

***

Princess Anette.

The girl before me might seem strong-willed, but she was courteous. Compared to Adela, she appeared to be a person of such character that it felt unfair to compare them.

“…Why are my ears itching?”

But the Anette I knew was only Tyrant Empress Anette. The girl before me… was not yet the Tyrant Empress.

Yet the potential for her to become one still existed. A true Tyrant Empress, capable of single-handedly facing an empire’s army.

“Y-You’re going to kill me?”

“Yes.”

I had retrieved the Soul Stone while killing Jaesang. The chance of Princess Anette awakening as the Tyrant Empress was now near zero, but…

‘I can’t be sure what will happen.’

The Defardly Empire Liberation Army was among the strongest villains in the story. Tyrant Empress Anette, who swept through the western empire and marched toward the capital, was a key culprit—along with the Time Chaos Dungeon, the Church of the Demon Lord, and the tyrant Adela—in collapsing the empire from within and without.

‘Above all, the demon worshippers worry me.’

The demons of the abyss manipulated souls. The abilities of their kings, the Demon Lords, were beyond imagination. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say they were the main force behind the world’s end in the story’s final stages. No wonder they laid groundwork and entangled with the protagonists from the story’s early days.

‘If they get their hands on this Soul Stone…’

It would be catastrophic. If we had no way to use a card that was valuable to the enemy, destroying it was the obvious choice, wasn’t it?

Tyrant Empress awakening, or the Church of the Demon Lord seizing it—either way, it was the worst outcome.

Better to act now than regret it later.

“I… see. Very well.”

Princess Anette swallowed hard. Cold sweat dripped as the fear of death set in, with the barrel pressed against her forehead.

“…The actions committed by me and my vassals were against human morality. I acknowledge it…”

“Your Highness!”

“No!”

The knight order behind her erupted. I silenced them by pressing the barrel firmly against Anette’s forehead.

“Quiet.”

“….”

“….”

I lowered my gaze to her trembling red eyes.

“Should I take it you’re ready to accept death humbly?”

“…I don’t want to die.”

“….”

Anette’s hands rose, grasping the hunting rifle.

“But.”

She pressed it harder against her forehead.

“If you intend to kill me, I can’t stop you! Hero, I saw your ferocious martial prowess, weaving through a thousand enemies!”

“….”

Her trembling red eyes steadied. No, they went beyond steady—they burned with resolve.

“Kill me if you must! But I want to live!”

That sight… somehow resembled myself.

“So forgive me…!”

Forgetting she was gripping the rifle, I recalled the past. A memory I’d likely never forget, even at the end of a long life—the first memory as Martin.

“Martin von Targon Ulvhadin greets the Patriarch.”

“Please release my maid.”

“Patriarch, please forgive the wrongs of me and my maid.”

When I first possessed Martin. The moment I defied my genetic father, Patriarch William. Despite being a sinner, I had boldly, arrogantly demanded forgiveness.

It was for Lilac, the maid who had cared for me devotedly, and for my own safety.

“I am their hope…!”

Even in this desperate situation, Princess Anette stood firm for her loyal knight order, her Red Knight, and herself. Facing the barrel, she remained dignified, not groveling.

“If you forgive me, I will atone for my sins! I swear on the Defardly Empire, its bloodline, and the honor of its knights! I will ensure you never regret this mercy…!”

“….”

It was a tempting offer. A lineage with such history likely held considerable hidden strength.

Wild Instinct (Lv 4) indicates that Princess Anette is speaking the truth.

Know-It-All (Lv 4) has concluded that Princess Anette could potentially join as an ally, unlike in the original story.

I lowered the rifle. There were plenty of ways to ensure insurance. I could make her swear on her heart or mana. But I didn’t bother.

“…Very well, Your Highness.”

“….”

“Martin von Targon Ulvhadin. I trust your promise.”

“No.”

Princess Anette denied my words. Not the promise itself.

“…I am not Princess Anette.”

Most of her vassals, who shared her thousand-year ambition, were dead. Only thirty knights, the knight commander, and the Red Knight remained.

“Knowing that the past emperors would descend, I did not claim the title. I could not. So, as a vow that what you fear will never happen again, I shall claim it.”

Even if not a single subject remained, Anette would have said the same.

“I am the emperor. The last emperor of the Defardly Empire, Anette! No emperor before me shall descend to this world, and there shall be none after me.”

“….”

Coronation. The audacious act of proclaiming oneself emperor. Yet no one here mocked her spirit or resolve.