Taming The Villainesses

Episode 231.2

“Are you going to come at me?”

Hoo, hoom.

This must be what the expression ‘the air is heavy’ was. Even taking a breath turned stifling.

“Professor Balan. This will be on a different level than anything before.”

“Yes, yes!”

Seureuk-.

“Uno.”

At that moment, one of the floating swords grazed my face. I felt blood leaking from the sharp cut on my cheek, but there was no time to worry about the pain.

─Mana Shield!

I raised my mana output to the maximum and deployed a mana shield. The extreme magic I gained from becoming a Little Demon King allowed me to create about ten layers of mana shields.

“Dos, tres, cuatro.”

Sling, sling, sling-.

Clang, clang-!

However, my shields were simply being shattered like windows by stones, under the relentless onslaught from all directions. If this continued, I would inevitably be exposed to the attacks.

How did the main character’s party fight the Queen?

Eudeuk-.

Gritting my teeth, I focused entirely on defense. Even if it just meant continuously replenishing my mana shield, it was quite effective.

“Interesting, then how about this?”

The Queen put down her sword and reached her hand towards me.

“… What is she trying to do?”

Balan, hiding within my mana shield, voiced her doubts, but I could read the Queen’s intentions. The gathering light on her fingers was anything but ordinary.

—Tahlum.

Finally, with a short incantation, a world-erasing beam of superheated light shot from her finger. It pierced through the many layers of my mana shield at a single point and grazed my cheek.

Whaaaaaa-!

At the same time, an intense heat seared my face. I narrowly avoided the full blast, but if I had been hit directly, I would have died horribly.

“Theo-nim, what should I do? I don’t see any gaps!”

Balan was in a panic.

… In retrospect, Balan had been panicking all day. I brought her thinking she would be helpful, but she was just being fussy. I almost wanted to take back her vacation time.

However, everyone had their time to shine.

Thus, I decided to put Balan into good use.

“Balan, can you make a potion?”

“Po, potion?”

“From now on, do as I say.”

Taking advantage of the Queen recharging her next spell, I quickly explained my plan. Balan made a disgusted face and said, “Ugh,” but there was no other choice.

“I can buy you about a minute, so please do it!”

I regenerated my mana shield and moved forward. The Queen, seemingly surprised that I would step up, couldn’t hide her intrigue.

“You have the face of someone resigned to death. Good, I’ll tear you apart, feed your corpse to the birds, and throw your bones to the dogs. Huhuhu-.”

“…….”

That was a bit too harsh…

If I hadn’t come to Ark, Aira would have become a wicked girl who said such things without hesitation. I definitely made the right choice there.

Thanks to that, I felt a bit more confident.

“Your Majesty. You stand corrected, I’m not prepared to die, I’m prepared to kill.”

“Hoo?”

I’d noticed something while fighting the episode bosses in this imaginary world. Both the Headhunter and the Necromancer felt somewhat lacking and one-dimensional compared to the women I know.

Perhaps the manifestation couldn’t fully capture reality. If that was the case, then the Tyrant Queen must also fall short of the woman I knew.

Therefore, I stood a chance.

I first activated the nymph-type secret technique.

─Ditch Eyes!

A pair of clear, brilliant eyes gazed at Aira.

“… Why are you opening your eyes like that?”

It was very slight, but the Queen’s furrowed brows loosened. It seemed she still liked cute things.

Taking advantage of her slight lapse in focus, I pointed my tail wand at her and chanted a spell.

─Paimon!

Raw high-level magic flew towards the Queen’s chest.

“Too slow.”

But the Queen’s reaction speed was faster than I anticipated, deflecting the spell with a sword. 

Clang-!

Although the attack was blocked, the Queen’s sword was also knocked from her grip and hit the ground. 

Not bad. I quickly devised a plan.

“Hmm.”

The Queen flexed her now empty hand before reaching out to grasp a spear from the air. With that, our intense clash continued.

Kaching, clink-!

It was a duel between mages, each trying to break the other’s mana shield. With every exchange of blows, the depletion of mana also accelerated.

The first to run out of mana would be the loser.

And that would likely be me. Even if this Queen was created by the manifestation, I was still no match for a Rank 7 Archmage.

Wioooooh-

A whirlwind then began to swirl around Aira. I didn’t know what she might be preparing, but it was definitely deadly. 

“Ugh-.”

Seeing the few remaining petals of my mana shield, I shouted loudly.

“Balan, is it ready yet!?”

“Eh, en! It’s done! Cough, cough.”

Balan coughed violently, like someone who got plagued. It seemed the potion I had asked her to make was effective. Balan proved to be useful after all! 

“Here, catch!”

Finally, Balan tossed the potion towards me.

“Well done!”

While defending against Aira’s magic, I caught the potion and threw it with all my might at the Queen.

“Do you think such an attack will harm me?”

Sareuk-.

Just as she had deflected my spell with her sword, the Queen sharply sliced through the potion vial with the tip of her spear.

However, the sharp scent of the liquid splattering everywhere was something she couldn’t block.

“Eugh, cough, cough—what is this, garlic…?”

Finally, the Queen coughed violently. The Ars Nova within her probably couldn’t withstand the yang energy from the garlic.

“Ugh, cough, cough.”

Taking advantage of Aira’s coughing fit—

My wand moved.

But it wasn’t aimed at the Queen’s heart. Instead, it targeted the head of the Demon Monk Theodoros, who was hiding in a corner and retching on the floor. From the beginning, my true enemy was him.

“Die.”

Phishung-.

The air bullet pierced through his head. Simultaneously, the scenery around me began to dissolve, melting away one by one.

* * *

When I finally came to my senses.

What I saw was an old, shabby multi-family house and a garden. No forest, no cemetery, no palace.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble.”

Seeing the man clutching his head and writhing near the roaring bonfire, I spat on the ground.

Was it all an illusion?

No, it didn’t matter.

“What did you say? Oh, right, if you poke a beehive, you should be ready to get stung.”

“Argh, ahhh-!”

Grabbing the screaming man’s collar, I subdued him by breaking his limbs.

“Stay still, you.”

“Ggeuugh-!”

Although he used strange magic, this guy himself had no combat abilities.

Still, not knowing what kind of magic he might use with his cunning tongue, I stuffed his mouth full of the garlic I had prepared.

“Mmph-!”

He struggled even more than when his limbs were broken.

It was nice to see.

Anyway, with this, the seal was complete.

Now he wouldn’t be able to use his power anymore.

「You have calmly judged the situation!

You have gained experience points through the talent 《Calm Thinking》.

All job experience +5」 

‘Great.’

Honestly, I wanted to get rid of him immediately since I couldn’t stand the sight of him.

But, I have a lot of questions.

So, I asked. 

“Who are you?”