Villain Hides His True Colors

A room shrouded in darkness. In this place where only silence existed, an unidentified sound could suddenly be heard.

Shiiii–!

An ominous noise of cloth being torn. Little by little, space cracked and a long solid line was drawn in the air. It was someone’s eyelid. 

The dense eyelashes trembled like a centipede’s legs. 

Soon, the closed eye opened, and nestled deeply beyond it was a mysterious hole.

A little later, from its depths, thick liquid similar to porridge began to trickle down.

Pitter-patter, thud–

Blood, pus, garbage, rotten flesh…

Mixed were all kinds of foul that existed in the world. The mass of filth exuding malice gradually took the shape of a person.

“Keuh…”

Atop the sludge, a woman frowning was finally revealed.

Surprisingly, it was Sophia, one of the three monsters who had attacked the institute a few days ago.

She, who was usually more meticulous and cautious than anyone else, had kept some of her soul separated in case of an emergency, so unlike the others, she had barely managed to save her life.

However in return, she had lost most of her strength she had accumulated over the years and was in a weakened state.

“Keuheuk…How the fuck…”

She cursed, looking down at her body flowing to the floor.

No matter how much she thought about it, the plan was supposed to be flawless this time.

Even if variables occured in the course of the plan, as many as three executives had gathered. She had been certain they would be able to deal with any opponent with relative ease.

However, what was the result?

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit…”

As if expressing her anger, her body of filthy liquid boiled and bubbled.

While she vented her anger, a somber voice came from behind her.

“You’re awake, Sophia.”

A burning skeleton appeared in the thick shadows.

“Nox…”

Nox, ‘Lich King.’

The current de facto leader of Eighth Layer Hell, and the mediator of the Eight Evils who all had unique personalities.

Sophia looked at Nox and bowed her head inadvertently.

“I-I’m sorry…I definitely thought the plan was perfect this time…”

“No. It’s something even I didn’t expect…I’ve read everyone’s memories while you were resurrecting. I didn’t expect Paladin and Lightning Sword to show up…”

Nox murmured to himself in a somber tone.

“Keuk! If it weren’t for them, I’m sure this plan would have worked…Why the hell did they show up there? Was information leaked from the inside…?”

“I’ve thought about that too, but the possibility of that is extremely unlikely. If someone had done that, Evil God would have warned us.”

“Then…?”

“It’s hard to believe, but…I have no choice but to think that Choi Noah made it happen.”

“?!”

Sophia’s body made of filth trembled.

In other words, a little boy who was just 13 years old had planned all of this?

Was that really possible?

If he really did, then his real talent wasn’t his power that was known to the public, but the devilish resourcefulness to implement and carry out such plans.

However, it was really hard to explain this incident other than that.

For the first time, she was afraid of Noah.

“A monster…”

“Yeah…maybe the word monster is more appropriate to describe him than the likes of us.”

“Ah…”

How far had Noah predicted?

When Sophia thought about it, wasn’t it all planned from the moment he had killed one of their members at the entrance ceremony?

After intentionally revealing himself, he had predicted their thoughts and moved the chess pieces however he wanted through decisive actions.

For such a person to exist, would they be able to achieve their great cause?

We can’t win…

It seemed like a huge wall was blocking them. Nox spoke to the frustrated Sophia.

“But Sophia. You don’t have to worry too much. That monster died in this incident.”

“?!”

“Lucky us. It’s the blessing of Evil God.”

“A-ah…”

The pressure that had been tightening her breath faded. Without such a monster, she thought she could rise again no matter how long it took.

However, there was another problem…

“But if Choi Noah is dead, what about the body that will be used as his vessel…?”

“Yes. The plan has become impossible to proceed any further. I heard Choi Noah disappeared completely and all that remains is an arm. It was so hard to find the perfect vessel too.”

Wasn’t it a big deal that there was no vessel? Why have they been holding their breath for so long in the dark? It was to find a perfect vessel…

On top of that, as many as half of the Evil God’s sealed relics were lost this time.

Without a vessel, they couldn’t even imagine how long they would have to endure to recover that power.

However, on that matter, Nox didn’t seem too gloomy.

“By some chance…Do you already have another plan?”

The answer to Sophia’s question came from another side.

“Kihihihi! We can solve that with a living sacrifice.” 

“Euahuhu! Let’s offer him meat!”

A muscular man with a large build slowly walked out from the darkness.

Bare upper body with only overalls that farmers usually wore. In either hands were giant kitchen knives.

His appearance was like that of a butcher.

However, if there was one characteristic that differed from ordinary people, it was that there were two heads on his shoulders.

“You…?”

“Kihihihi! We couldn’t miss this when we heard about it!” 

“Euahuhu! It’s a blood festival!”

Gallace and Wromit. Giant Siamese twins who were bestowed the alias ‘Twinhead’ by their almighty Evil God.

However, they were only interested in killing and didn’t care much about planning or achieving the great cause.

For this reason, although everyone had been together for a long time, it wasn’t easy to see their faces.

“You guys! You didn’t even answer when I asked you to attend the meeting last time! If you guys had joined the plan, I wouldn’t be…”

“Stop it, Sophia.”

“B-but they…!”

“It’s all in the past. And we need their help for future plans, so I hope you don’t fight unnecessarily.”

“Then, what the hell is the plan?”

Nox held back the agitated Sophia and told her the plan he had in mind.

“To revive him, we simply need an enormous amount of energy.”

“But we’ve lost half of our long-held relics. On top of that, we don’t even have a vessel for him.”

“Now that the situation is so twisted, you would be right to think that it’s near impossible to revive him in a complete state.”

Nox’s words reverberate heavily. In fact, she also had the same idea in her head.

However, it was a blasphemous act that shouldn’t even be considered.

“I-if we find the most suitable vessel now, even if not perfect, to some extent…”

“If we revive him incompletely, can it still be said to be his will?”

“So what the hell are we going to do? Don’t tell me we’re going to give up on him like this?”

Filth sprang in all directions from the angered Sophia’s body. Nox spoke with a grim look.

“No. I never said I would give up on him. I meant the old way was too much.”

“You mean…?”

“Yes. So I…Intend to create a vessel for him through a living sacrifice.”

“?!”

Living sacrifice. One of the oldest customs that had existed since the beginning of human history. It was a kind of primitive ritual to realize one’s desire by using the grudge of living sacrifices.

However, the reason why such a method had disappeared in every dimension was because it was extremely inefficient.

It’s definitely not impossible…But if we try to revive him through a living sacrifice…How many sacrifices would we need?

It wasn’t something that could be done with only a hundred or a thousand.

***

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

Much bigger than that…The number of sacrifices needed went far beyond what the eyes could grasp.

Maybe it’s possible if we sacrifice a whole nation…

While Sophia was calculating the possibility of the new plan, Nox shook his head with a small sigh as if he was having a headache.

“Anyway, that’s why I asked for that person, but they didn’t show up today either.”

“Is there anyone else who was supposed to come?”

“This meeting is being held because of the complete change to our existing plan. So if possible, everyone should have attended.”

“That’s true. But since the one in the deep sea won’t be able to come here…Don’t tell me…?”

At that moment, the sound of high heels rang out in the complete darkness.

Clack–

Clack–

“What~? It was annoying, but I came anyway. Were you talking behind my back? Should I just go back like this?”

Everyone’s head turned to one place. In front of them, a pink-haired woman dressed in style walked out.

“Y-you…?!”

Sophia looked at the woman in front of her with a look of shock.

It was Arin.

An executive who was bestowed the alias ‘Ninetail’ by their Evil God, and the most differing among the villains in Eighth Layer Hell.

She had attended so few meetings that it could be counted on one hand. Not only that, she hadn’t even touched the most basic task of managing the low-level members of the organization.

And unlike the other executives who hid themselves, she was even an active K-pop idol who regularly appeared in public.

Whenever Sophia saw Arin, she would wonder why she belonged to Eighth Layer Hell as an executive. Perhaps she had an ulterior motive for joining their great cause.

However, on the other hand, her strength was as powerful as Fighting Spirit King who had died this time…

In other words, she was someone who did as she pleased and could be said to be Eighth Layer Hell’s number one headache.

Sure enough, she had spoken in a terribly crooked manner as soon as she had arrived.

“Cya later~ You guys do your best on your own this time too.”

“Huu…Ninetail. As you can see, our situation isn’t very good right now. So I hope you can help us as his Apostle this time.”

Nox asked eagerly.

However, Arin only looked at the nail art on her nails as she answered in a sour manner.

“No? What time period do you think this is, but you’re still talking about living sacrifice. Please don’t involve me in such an old-fashioned thing. It’s degrading.”

Sophia became angry when she heard Arin.

Old-fashioned? Degrading?

Then, what of those who had sacrificed themselves so they could achieve their great cause? Even the strength she had spent her entire life accumulating was lost.

“Why do you always act like that to your own kind? If things go wrong because of you, are you confident you’ll be able to take responsibility if he can’t revive?”

“Well~ I have a lot of time anyway, so I don’t care what happens right now. More than that, our Sophia. You’ve gotten a lot prettier while we haven’t seen each other~ When did you get plastic surgery?”

“Wh-wh-what?! Wh-what did you just say…”

“Aye~ Can you move further away? Your breath smells like shit.”

“Keuaaak! Fox bitch, I’m going to rip off that mouth of yours!”

Sophia shouted, finally letting go of her string of reason and charging at Arin.

In response, nine tails sprout behind Arin as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“Huhu, can I take this as you attacking me first?”

Arin flicked her long and slender finger.

Sophia’s body, which had been rushing wildly, stopped. From it, the essence of her soul began to be pulled out.

“Kyaaaak!”

“I’ve been curious for a long time. What the other Apostles would taste like.”

Arin’s eyes glowed bright red like blood. The brighter it glowed, the more Sophia screamed.

Sophia’s body writhed as all kinds of filth spilled out like an unclogged sewer.

“Y-you…Stop…”

The moment Sophia’s body was about to return to trash.

Whoosh–!

Wicked flame burned as Nox stood in front of Sophia. And before long, Gallace and Wromit drew their kitchen knives and eyed Arin.

“Why don’t you stop there?”

“Kihihihi! Are you playing without us?”

“Euahuhu! Meat! It’s fox meat!”

Seeing that, Arin eventually smacked her lips and released Sophia’s soul. The mushy filth gathered and slowly took the shape of a woman.

“Why is everyone so scary~ I was just playing. Rather, I wasn’t going to take that dirty garbage.”

“…”

“Huh? Was it not fun? The atmosphere is weird.”

A heavily subdued atmosphere. Arin tilted her head with a playful smile.

For a moment, her eyes glow red again. She erased the mischief from her face and spoke with a serious expression.

“Well, I don’t care what you guys do amongst yourselves, but let me give you a word of advice. You guys have the tendency to underestimate humans.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Humans are ugly people who fight and blame each other even in small crises…But unexpectedly, it only takes a very small ripple for them to unite and perform miracles.”

“Humans uniting?”

“Yes. For example…something like a real hero who is respected by everyone showing up.”

“A hero…come to think of it, those guys at the Hero Training Institute…”

Nox had a pensive look as if he was recalling something.

Meanwhile, Arin’s red-hot eyes returned to its original black color. With a playful look, she added.

“Or, well, if a cute idol like me appears, they’ll unite as one. Huhu.”

“Is that so? I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

“Anyway, I’m leaving. You guys too, don’t gather in this gloomy place every day. Go see life outside sometimes~”

Arin turned her back without hesitation as if she had done everything she had to do. However, as if she had suddenly recalled something, she looked back.

“I’ll send you tickets to my concert next time, so you can all come and watch~ Ah, of course, the smelly one on the floor is banned~”

“D-damn fox bitch, you had to get the last word in?!”

“Hahaha! Then, I’m really leaving. Bye everyone!”

Poof–!

Like that, Arin abruptly vanished in the darkness.

After she left, Nox recalled her advice.

She was someone who did as she pleased, but whenever she spoke, her words often contained wisdom.

A real hero…

He recalled the dead Henri’s memories.

Just because of a single person named Noah, the students at the institute had become more united than what was thought possible.

They showed a miraculous fighting spirit to the point where it was enough to wear out Henri.

Certainly, it was dangerous.

A hero who was supported and respected by everyone, not just a hero with power, had created a miracle as Arin had said.

However…

Other than Choi Noah, I don’t think there will be another hero like that.

Now that he was dead, wouldn’t this be their best chance to realize their great cause?

Nox looked at the others.

“Excluding Arin, the plan will be carried out with four people.”

“Then…Are you saying the one in the deep sea will join us?”

“Yes. I’ve already told that person that we really needed their help in this plan.”

As Nox waved in the air, a model globe of Earth appeared.

“Like what I said earlier, the core of this plan isn’t to find a vessel as it has been, but to create a whole new body.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

“Success or failure, we have to give it our all.”

The globe floating in the air began to rotate automatically, and soon it slowly stopped at a point.

An island currently home to the largest number of people in the world with a population of over 500 million.

It was Japan.

Pointing to the map, Nox continued.

“And, the moment the long preparation is completed! His glory will finally spread throughout the land!”

Flames swayed from his eye sockets.

In a secret space unknownst to others, a great event was gradually put into motion that would change the fate of the world.