I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With

380 – Premonition of Ruin

…After parting with Egostic.

The Temple of the Sun God.

“Hey! Don’t you know no one can get near here while the Saint is praying?!”

Celeste, leading the villain group Etheria.

Only the most loyal are allowed to guard the doors to the prayer room.

Celeste.

Dressed neatly in dazzling white saintly robes, she had her eyes closed, focused on offering prayers to the Sun God.

…Or at least, she was trying to focus.

Celeste, when I’m by your side…I find you quite likable.

“….”

I’ll be at your side anytime. I’ll always help you. On your side, Celeste.

I want to stand by you and see what path you take.

“…Oh, seriously.”

…If only those intruding memories weren’t interfering with her prayers, she would have tried to focus.

‘Isn’t this crazy…how can she say something like that so calmly?’

Mumbling to herself.

With slightly flushed cheeks, that’s what she was thinking.

In fact, this was the first time…her concentration was disturbed during sacred prayers to the Sun God. But she didn’t care about that.

Celeste.

Losing her parents and siblings at a young age, wandering the back alleys…chosen by the gods and granted powers…perhaps because of that experience. She couldn’t trust anyone.

Even her loyal followers. The members of the villain group Etheria she led.

A thought she often had.

‘Someday, they may betray me too.’

It was nothing short of paranoid distrust of others.

Even if I lose my power, will they still follow me? No. Rather, they’ll stab me in the back and get rid of me.

There’s no way to know.

And so it was frightening.

For that reason, from the moment she rose to power, she never let her guard down for an instant.

…Could that be why?

The moment her greatest fear came true, and she lost all her power.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. Hide behind me.’

Far from harming her…

Rather, Egostic, who remained by her side till the end and said those words…she came to trust him more than anyone else.

Until now, she had never experienced being protected by someone when she was at her weakest.

That day, for the first time, she came to truly trust someone.

Could that be why…

From noble mtl dot com

…Unconsciously, she kept drawing Egostic near.

When planning the Cathedral, making plans…she unconsciously turned to Egostic first for everything.

Especially since the Cathedral was Egostic’s idea, and he was chosen by the gods along with her. There was ample justification.

During the months they spent together…

‘…He’s so capable.’

Yes.

Egostic lightened her load tremendously.

‘…Maybe we could do it this way?’

When asking for tactical directions, he’d instantly come up with the optimal solution.

No matter the task, he’d finish it swiftly.

‘This situation could be resolved like so.’

Answers that would take her hours to figure out, he’d find in minutes.

It made me understand why the Sun God had chosen him.

…Of course, since Egostic had read the original work for most situations, he was just giving answers from the original. But Celeste didn’t know that.

Anyway.

Unconsciously, Celeste became deeply dependent on Egostic.

And then this time.

Thanks to Egostic, thanks to him I learned the Sun God’s true identity…

‘As expected…’

The gods were kind.

They had always helped people, always for their sake.

‘…The path I’m on isn’t wrong.’

With that thought, she steeled her resolve again.

And this too was probably thanks to Egostic.

Until now, she had only been ‘chosen’ directly by the Sun God. She knew nothing about the three primal gods.

Even finding ancient records about the ancient gods was just a leap of faith. She had searched through ancient texts from various nations to learn this much.

And then, Egostic appeared and started pouring out information about the gods.

“Egostic…”

Thinking about him.

Kneeling in the prayer room, Celeste murmured quietly, eyes open just a slit.

…She had to admit it now.

Egostic had become someone she could not compromise with anymore.

Even more…

‘Mm…ah, just a moment…!’

“…”

Now, she could even accept the prophecy she would kiss Egostic in the future.

However.

“That’s fine and all…but why am I in the receiving position? If I was leading…”

She still had complaints, apparently.

***

After exploring the Sun God’s ruins with Celeste.

I returned to Korea, feeling like I had been away for ages.

…Had I really been away that long, going here and there around the Cathedral? Anyway.

“…It’s about time to wrap things up with Celeste too.”

I murmured to myself as I returned home.

Celeste turning against the Sun God on Judgement Day – two effects.

One, portraying the Sun God as benevolent to make her believe in him. Two, making her psychologically dependent on me.

Both seemed to be working well.

There was still more to do, of course, to deepen and solidify things…but this pace should be enough until declaring Judgement.

I planned to find the remaining relics and grow astonishingly close to Celeste.

Anyway, the important thing was the Cathedral was truly done.

‘…So now.’

It’s about time to focus on myself.

For that reason.

Upon returning to Korea, instead of going home, I headed to Lee Seol-a’s office in Yuseong Group.

“Dain, what brings you? I heard you went overseas.”

“Look at this first.”

Lee Seol-a, twirling her sky blue hair as she sat across from me while working.

She looked quizzically at the USB drive I handed over, then walked to her computer, plugged it in, and had a shocked expression.

“…What is this?”

“Data from abroad I got while working on the Cathedral. Use it if you can.”

“Oh…Dain, thank you!”

…There was more work to do. But with this information…

Smiling like a child up to no good in front of the computer, she answered me.

Leaving her behind, I sipped some tea and looked over the data I had brought.

From noble mtl dot com

In my mind, I thought something else.

‘…Good.’

Let’s assess my current situation.

What elite forces does Korea have at its disposal?

‘…For heroes there’s Stardust, Shadow Walker, and…’

The combat members of Egosquad.

Seo Eun, Eunwol, Choi Sehee, Seo Jayoung, Shinryeong, Halo too.

Along with them, the now hundreds of Yuseong PMC alumni turned heroes.

Especially important now were tracking these Yuseong-Egosquad affiliated heroes.

“Seol-a, do we have like a list or documents on our kids? Give me them if we do.”

“Oh…the Yuseong PMC ones? We should have something organized…here.”

“Thanks.”

I naturally grabbed some papers from the printer, and started looking them over, murmuring.

“As expected…”

“Hmm? As expected what?”

“Nothing. I should get going.”

“Okay~ Come by often.”

“Sure.”

I smiled and left with the data, taking the elevator down and exiting the building.

The clear blue sky welcomed me with bright sunlight.

‘…Come to think of it, I should teleport home.’

Exiting the building, I decided that as I thought about how to get home.

As I walked towards an empty side street by the Yuseong building.

A familiar yet cold voice called out behind me.

“Egostic.”

“…..!”

I quickly turned in surprise.

“Hi. Where’ve you been?”

There stood Stardust, smiling at me.

“M-miss Stardust? Long time no see. hahahaha. But how’d you know I was…”

As I stammered in shock, still smiling, she raised a finger to her lips and said.

“Hmm…I was worried since I hadn’t heard from you lately. I had a hunch and came here, and here you were. Ahahahaha.”

I see. Super senses.

…Scary.

As I broke into a cold sweat, she glanced at Yuseong Group, then looked back at me, smiling again.

…Her eyes weren’t smiling at all, of course.

“I thought you went overseas for work…but you were here. hahahaha.”

“Um…Miss Stardust? I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s a misunderstanding. I only came to get some data.”

I quickly explained. Still smiling, she replied.

“Right. Of course I believe you. Egostic, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

…That implies someone else has, doesn’t it?

“Ah, anyway, I have to go see someone. I’ll get going first?”

“Huh? Wait a…”

Before I could respond.

Like a mirage, Stardust vanished.

With a final glance at the Yuseong building, murmuring.

“….”

Watching her disappear, I meditated briefly before walking on.

…Hoping Seol-a survives to explain everything well.

***

“Seol-a. Can we…talk for a bit?”

A-rank hero and CEO of Yuseong Group, Lee Seol-a.

The moment Egostic left, she saw Stardust walking towards her with cold, dead eyes.

…Finally, it’s come, she thought.