A Regressed Villain: Heroines, Villainesses and Me?

It encompasses everything necessary for daily life, including a city replete with shops, traders, and residential areas, creating an environment that feels like a small world unto itself.

Many inhabitants of this place have spent their entire lives within these boundaries, never venturing outside.

Despite the availability of airports and various amenities, the territory operates as a self-contained entity.

It offers residents a wide array of comprehensive services, including competitive salaries for employees working within its borders, effectively functioning as a self-sufficient entity akin to a fully-fledged country.

Of course, these residents were neither obliged nor restricted from moving beyond the territory.

As long as they had a valid reason, they could easily travel outside.

Internet connections were available to them with no restrictions, allowing them to connect socially with the outside world.

However, it\'s worth noting that these connections were under constant monitoring to ensure that sensitive information was not disclosed.

In this context, residents were not barred from acquiring knowledge from external sources; rather, they were prohibited from revealing certain confidential details about the territory.

This included photographs of its architectural features, insights into its management systems, and any sensitive information related to high-ranking officials or their families.

Indeed, the residents of this prosperous territory enjoyed the benefits of a benevolent Lord and abundant wealth that positioned their city among the elite.

The high living standards and comfortable conditions here kept the inhabitants content, deterring them from seeking life beyond their borders.

However, with such a vast expanse of land, the enforcement of laws became a necessity.

To address this, eight Mayors were appointed, each responsible for a specific direction within the Croceaus territory.

These Mayors oversaw the enforcement of laws with the help of a lower patrol division they hired, which worked diligently to maintain order and keep crime at bay.

Naturally, the financial burden of this system was considerable.

Even in a world brimming with resources and conveniences, human nature often leaned toward violence and chaos.

Without a proper authority to enforce laws, issues inevitably arose.

Minor problems, such as car accidents and other disturbances, would occasionally disrupt the otherwise peaceful existence of the citizens.

The laws were particularly upheld by the Mayors within their respective divisions, while the broader security of the territory was entrusted to a specialized force comprised of 40 skilled individuals.

Remarkably, these protectors favored the use of swords over modern weapons like guns, reflecting a unique approach to law enforcement that underscored the territory\'s commitment to tradition and honor.

In the Kingdom of Thaloris, noble families were permitted to possess modern weaponry, yet they all understood a fundamental truth: these firearms were utterly pointless against the supernatural powers wielded by the Royal Family.

The very presence of the royals ensured that no one from the free cities or neighboring countries would dare to threaten the kingdom.

Ironically, those sworn to protect Thaloris were simultaneously the ones who could annihilate it, instilling deep fear of the royal family throughout the realm, including among central governments and noble households alike.

The dread of the Royal Family was palpable, extending even to the most established noble lineages.

Some of these families kept guns and modern weaponry on their lands, not for defense against outer invasions, as they knew too well that any royal decree could lead to a one-sided massacre.

Instead, they maintained these arms merely to manage local unrest and maintain order within their territories.

They were acutely aware that, should the Royal Family choose to eliminate them, the resulting confrontation would be overwhelmingly lopsided, given the presence of awakened individuals among the royals.

Not only those in power, but even the weakest among them—those who might be considered evolvers and possess some degree of Synergy—render modern weaponry ineffective. This is primarily due to a unique property of an enigmatic force known as synergy.

In the presence of synergy, metals such as lead and copper, which have loosely bound electrons and high conductivity, become highly unstable.

The synergy disrupts their atomic structures, breaking the bonds between atoms and causing these metals to dissolve into vapor or dust.

Consequently, this phenomenon renders bullets utterly useless.

On the other hand, metals with stronger atomic bonds, such as iron or titanium, exhibit considerably greater resistance to synergy, enabling them to maintain their solid state even in environments saturated with this mysterious energy.

Thus, with the exception of a select few metals, most conventional weapons become ineffective against these formidable individuals.

The moment such a bullet comes into contact with their skin, it simply turns to dust; in the case of strong Empyreals or Evolvers, any metal within a ten-meter radius can disintegrate into nothingness.

As a result, noble families find themselves in a precarious position, always needing to be prepared for potential conflicts without having any reliable means of defense.

They remain acutely aware of the dangers that could arise should they ever offend the royal family.

Modern weapons proved ineffective against awakened individuals, who possessed special abilities, resulting in a potential massacre if combat ensued.

However, within the Croceaus territory, the current Lord had devised a method to use Synergy, empowering their special forces to confront any lower-ranked Empyreal.

Notably, the Croceaus family did not have any Empyreals of their own. Instead, they developed a secret technique to enhance the strength of professionally trained individuals for brief periods, utilizing Charged Stones.

These stones are not found in nature; rather, they were artificially created by the Croceaus family.

Through their resources, they produced a unique metal capable of isolating and holding Synergy for a limited duration.

By breaking these stones against swords made of iron or titanium, they could temporarily imbue the weapons with aura for about 60 seconds.

At first glance, a 60-second boost may not seem significant, but in reality, it held immense value, especially since the Royal family remained completely unaware of it.

Although they had an inkling about how the Croceaus special forces and guards wielded aura-infused swords, they merely dismissed it as a secret technique passed down through the Croceaus lineage, not recognizing that it involved the use of Synergy.

However, this method was not without its drawbacks, and two major issues plagued its practicality.

First, all the Charged Stones were empowered by a single individual with Synergy in the entire Croceaus territory—Dominic Rivia Aurelia.

This singular dependency made the entire technique unsustainable over time.

It effectively siphoned energy from one powerful individual and distributed it among others with far less capacity, diminishing overall effectiveness.

Second, the Charged Stones struggled to maintain the Synergy they contained for long periods.

Regardless of how well the energy was isolated, it inevitably transformed—escaping the stones in the forms of heat, light, or radiation.

Consequently, over a span of two to three weeks, the stones would gradually deplete, losing their effectiveness.

In summary, while the method of utilizing Charged Stones was a complete practical loss but it was a loss that was important in order to not lose hope.