I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“We found the Dearmant!”

At the urgent voice, Anita and Hanod turned around.

“Are you sure?”

At Hanod’s question, Naila, who had been bending her upper body forward, quickly nodded her head.

“Y-yes, I’m certain. Judging by the amount of magical power I can sense, it doesn’t seem that strong either…”

Before Naila could finish speaking, something swiftly brushed past in front of her.

It was Lark, who had enhanced his running speed with his ability.

Anita quickly followed behind him and urged the other group members.

“Hurry! Everyone move quickly!”

At those words, even the last group member, Chepri, nodded his head.

Just then, the hazy clouds in the sky cleared away, revealing two moons.

The six began moving in the direction Naila pointed, with the moonlight at their backs.

Before long, Joseph, who had spotted something among the nearby trees, shouted.

“It seems to be over there!”

Where Joseph’s gaze reached, there was definitely something of unknown identity.

As the thing that had been gazing at the sky slowly turned its head, its appearance was fully revealed.

Lustrous, bright silver-gray fur.

Perhaps startled, its four legs stretched downward were frozen stiff without the slightest movement.

“That’s supposed to be a magical beast?”

Lark muttered in disbelief.

The Dearmant that had finally revealed itself looked far too friendly and mystical to be called a magical beast.

Its fine fur reflected the moonlight with a shimmering glow, and its sparkling eyes were clear and large enough to be seen at a glance even from afar.

“It’s not a magical beast… it looks like some kind of Sacred Sprite.”

Hanod tilted his head.

“Right. Fortunately, since it’s a young one, its size is small.”

Naila shouted.

“The Magical Stone is below the horn!”

Everyone looked at the Dearmant’s forehead.

Between the Dearmant’s two eyes.

In the center of its forehead, a white diamond-shaped jewel was sparkling.

The horn extending upward from the jewel branched out densely as it reached toward the sky, reminiscent of a single tree.

“It’s definitely a Dearmant!”

Anita’s excited voice echoed through the forest. Lark and Chepri nodded their heads.

“Shall we begin then?”

At the following instruction, Lark leaped forward first. He was supporting Chepri with one arm.

Even with a person on his shoulder, Lark’s speed was unbelievably fast.

This was because he was a manifestor who handled speed abilities. The two quickly approached the Dearmant.

The Dearmant tilted its head upon seeing the approaching humans, but it didn’t seem to have any intention of running away.

Confirming that the Dearmant was standing perfectly still in place, Anita commanded.

“Now’s the time! Chepri, hurry up and do it!”

Chepri nodded his head. Then he stared intently at the Dearmant with calm eyes.

The moment his eyes flashed with light, the magical beast that met his gaze flinched.

The beast’s silver pupils seemed to dilate for a moment, then gradually lost focus.

“It worked properly!”

Lark patted Chepri’s back and laughed.

“Blocking vision, huh. It’s still a scary ability no matter how many times I see it.”

Chepri shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing special.

Meanwhile, the magical beast that had suddenly lost its sight began to hesitate and step backward.

Its two unfocused pupils were filled with unprecedented fear.

The cornered magical beast tensed its hind legs to escape from Chepri’s ability.

Hanod, who had been watching this scene, clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Hanod raised one hand with a bothered expression.

Then the magical beast’s legs, which had seemed ready to kick off the ground at any moment, stiffened again.

The magical beast let out rough breathing sounds.

Realizing it had been caught, the creature began shaking its body with strange cries.

The massive horn protruding from its forehead bumped against the surrounding trees in all directions.

“Its resistance is stronger than expected?”

As Lark said, the Dearmant desperately struggled with all four legs to escape from Hanod’s restraint.

But it seemed unable to break free from Hanod’s ability.

Perhaps beginning to tire, the magical beast started flinching its head repeatedly and gasping for breath.

Hanod, who had been watching this scene with indifferent eyes, looked back with a tired expression.

“Hey. How long are you going to make me hold onto this thing? If you’ve started, you need to finish it.”

Joseph, who met Hanod’s gaze, flinched in surprise. He soon pointed to himself with clearly nervous eyes and asked.

“D-do I have to do it?”

“Then who else would do it?”

Joseph closed his mouth. Then he secretly swallowed his saliva.

Anita approached his side and said.

“Among us, Joseph is the only one who can take the Dearmant’s life. Hurry up and do it.”

Joseph cleared his parched throat with a flustered expression.

He had manifested a poison ability, which was an extended attribute of the elemental type and considered quite powerful among them.

However, he had never once killed anything with that ability until now.

‘Even though it’s a young one, to kill a magical beast of that size… I’d need to release quite powerful poison.’

Unconsciously, his whole body tensed up.

He could do it if he had to, but his body wouldn’t move readily.

Naturally, he had only ever used his ability to a degree that wouldn’t kill anyone.

But now he suddenly had to face a magical beast famous for its tenacious vitality.

‘No, more than that…’

Hanod looked at the Dearmant with trembling eyes.

Was it really okay to kill it?

The magical beast before his eyes just looked like a young deer with a unique horn. That made him even more reluctant to manifest his ability.

‘Damn it, that thing’s appearance is too…’

The shimmering silver-gray fur that seemed to scatter moonlight all around.

With such an appearance, its silent struggling seemed quite pitiful.

Just then, the magical beast that had been twisting its head in apparent agony let out a soft breath.

“Hey, Joseph. When exactly are you planning to do it? Holding onto this thing is harder than I thought.”

When Hanod urged him, Joseph reluctantly stepped forward.

‘…This is a magical beast. What am I even thinking?’

Now wasn’t the time to be lost in such childish thoughts.

Under Anita’s command, Naila had found the Dearmant.

Lark, Chepri, and Hanod had captured the magical beast and bound it to this spot.

That meant he was the only one left who needed to do his part.

Joseph glanced over the magical beast with trembling eyes, then squeezed his eyes shut. Then pale smoke began rising around him.

The smoke avoided the group members here and there, forming thin streams, and slowly approached the magical beast.

Then it began wrapping around the creature’s body, starting from its legs.

The struggling magical beast sensed something and froze stiff. Soon its nose twitched slightly, then its whole body convulsed.

“Ki, kiiiing—!”

A painful metallic sound burst from the magical beast’s snout. As it violently twisted its body, the surrounding grass swayed in all directions.

Anita watched the increasingly violent struggling of the magical beast and muttered with satisfaction.

“It’s simpler than I thought! At this rate, I might not need to use my ability at all.”

Joseph maintained his ability with his lips pressed tightly together. But somehow he couldn’t look directly at the magical beast.

How much time had passed?

The Dearmant’s legs, which had been writhing in agony, finally buckled powerlessly.

Its white body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“Now we can release it.”

Hanod said with relief as he withdrew his gaze from the magical creature.

Lark and Chepri were looking down at the creature sprawled on the ground, when Anita spoke in a cheerful voice.

“Everyone did well. Once it’s completely dead, we’ll extract the magical stone right away…”

But that’s when it happened.

“W-wait a minute!”

Nyla Merin, who had been standing a little distance away, suddenly shouted.

Anita jumped in surprise and spun around.

“What is it, Nyla? What’s wrong?”

Nyla kept her gaze fixed on the dark depths of the forest.

Seeing her lips trembling, Anita grabbed Nyla’s shoulders and shook her.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Nyla slowly turned her trembling gaze.

“A-all the others are coming this way…”

“All the others? Who’s coming this way? Are they trying to steal our magical stone?!”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

Nyla trembled as she continued muttering incomprehensibly.

Just as Anita raised her eyebrows.

“Th-they’re not people!”

Nyla cried out in a voice on the verge of tears. At those words, Joseph’s concentration broke.

As he turned his head, the poisonous fog that had been enveloping the magical creature lifted.

The Dearmant, which had been lying limp, gasped for breath and shook its head violently.

Nyla Merin continued to look toward the forest depths, muttering incoherently.

“Th-they’re all coming toward us. The number of individuals is definitely… why…”

Her words gradually trailed off.

Hanod, who had been watching, approached Nyla.

Then he bent down with a serious expression and looked into Nyla’s eyes.

“Hey, you need to speak clearly. What exactly is coming this way right now?”

Nyla looked up with tears welling in her eyes.

“Th-the Academy was wrong… They said the number of magical creatures was small…”

“What did you say?”

“What’s rushing toward us right now are Dearmants. Just from the magical power I can sense, there are over a hundred of them…!”

Terrified, Nyla wrapped her arms around herself and trembled.

“Th-they’re all incredibly strong, and they’re angry at us. Their aggression is…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence and closed her mouth. Silence fell over the forest.

“Th-then what do we…”

Joseph was panicking when.

“Everyone snap out of it! First we need to finish what we started! We need to extract the magical stone before we can run or do anything!”

Anita shouted sharply. The group members frantically nodded.

Joseph also quickly came to his senses and looked toward where the Dearmant had been lying to activate his ability again.

“…Wh-what.”

But there was nothing where his gaze fell.

“It’s gone?!”

Anita screamed.

Then, a strange tension began to permeate the forest.

The hesitating group members instinctively began to huddle closer together.

Anita, who had been frozen in shock, slowly turned her head.

The quiet forest shrouded in darkness. Something glowing silver could be seen in the distance. It was unmistakably a Dearmant’s magical stone.

The problem was that there weren’t just one, but dozens of them.

“Kyaaaah-!”

A sharp scream echoed through the forest. It was Nyla, who had tripped over a tree root.

“What are you doing, get up quickly!”

Lark, who had been ahead, quickly came back. He urgently grabbed Nyla’s arm and helped her up.

But Nyla could barely steady herself.

“M-my ankle…!”

At the sobbing sound, Lark’s face turned pale. He shook his head vigorously as if trying to clear his mind, then quickly hoisted Nyla onto his shoulder.

And he began to run.

“This way!”

Joseph gestured from a distance. He too was running hard along with Anita, Hanod, and Chepri.

But then, Hanod, who was in the lead, gradually began to slow down.

“…Wait a minute. I think we’re getting farther and farther from the Tower of Wisdom.”

Anita’s face turned ashen.

“Th-then what do we do?!”

Chepri swallowed hard and whispered.

“What do you mean what do we do… We’ve been herded by the magical creatures.”

Anita gazed behind them with trembling eyes.

In the distant darkness, dozens of glowing eyes were flashing as they pursued them.

A thin moan escaped her lips involuntarily.

“What easy opponents… they’re anything but easy…”

After losing the young Dearmant, they had been in a standoff with the Dearmant horde for dozens of minutes already.

Unlike what Professor Sadina had said, the magical creatures were powerful.

“Poison fog, visual paralysis, your telekinesis… nothing works on them!”

No matter what high-level abilities they manifested, the magical creatures were unaffected.

Even when they took damage, it was only temporary before they quickly recovered and returned to perfect condition.

“How the hell are we supposed to deal with these monsters!”

That’s when it happened. Suddenly, a chilling breath was felt from behind.

When they turned around, a large Dearmant that was clearly an adult was looking down at them.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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