I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 152

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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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It didn’t take very long to disable all the intermediate artifacts.

Perhaps because everyone had gotten the hang of it, they worked in perfect sync, and thanks to that, it actually took less time than disabling the basic ones.

The advanced level was the same.

Advanced artifacts operated on slightly more complex principles than intermediate ones, but even that wasn’t a difficult level.

Artifacts always had patterns.

Once you understood the principles of how the machine worked, finding gaps was easy, and after that, everything was a piece of cake.

“We’re already at 2700 points. Just like you said, we monopolized all the basic, intermediate, and advanced levels, right?”

Looking at the blinking lights on the ceiling, Rosette smiled brightly. Verain also clenched her fists in joy.

“At this rate, even if Anita’s team disables the supreme-level artifact, we won’t lose! It’s a strategic victory, really!”

I quietly looked around at my teammates who were each expressing their joy and said gently.

“Anita’s team probably couldn’t disable the supreme level either.”

Everyone turned their gaze toward me. I shrugged my shoulders.

“If they had succeeded in disabling it, we would have encountered them much earlier.”

Rosette’s eyes widened.

“Right, now that I think about it, that’s true! If they had disabled the supreme level, they would have come to disable other artifacts, whether advanced or intermediate. Then we definitely would have encountered them, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them yet…”

“Yeah. There’s a high probability they’re still struggling with the supreme level.”

Everyone exchanged glances with each other. They were happy to win, but they looked somewhat bewildered.

I looked around at them and asked.

“What would you like to do?”

“Pardon?”

“We have about 10 minutes left.”

I gestured toward the ceiling.

There, our current score and the time remaining until the exam ended were blinking.

“Do you want to try disabling the supreme level too? Or we could just wait for the exam to end like this.”

Whichever it was, we had already beaten Anita’s team. There was no pressure in making the decision.

Rosette shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

“Then shall we just take a look? To be honest, the basic, intermediate, and advanced levels were just so-so.”

Verain and Janet, who had been hesitating, also agreed.

“Mm, that’s right. They weren’t exactly the same as artifacts on the market, but there wasn’t anything particularly special about them either.”

“For something Professor Sadina made… they were rather ordinary.”

Then Estelin, who had been keeping silent on one side, spoke in a gentle voice.

“Then I’ll follow everyone else’s opinion.”

Martina also scratched the back of her head and chimed in.

“I don’t particularly mind either. The exam will automatically end when the time limit is up anyway…”

I nodded and smiled.

“Then that settles it?”

We exchanged glances with each other, then headed toward where the supreme-level artifact was located.

“Only ten minutes left…! What are we going to do now?!”

Lark looked at Anita while gasping for breath. Anita was clenching her fists tightly with a pale face.

Grooooong—

Even during this, the massive artifact in front of them moved without rest.

A machine that looked to be easily 5 meters in size continuously made huge metallic sounds and creaked.

A body wrapped in thick reinforced steel armor.

Two thick legs supporting it, and a complexly structured spherical machine at the very top.

From that machine that seemed to be the head, bright red lights were flashing frantically.

Anita looked at Lark and spoke haltingly.

“…Again. T-try again.”

“What did you say?”

“I’ll surround your whole body with a barrier! Somehow try approaching again!!”

Lark let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.

“We already tried that! Even if I approach, no attacks work on it, so what am I supposed to do?!”

Anita closed her mouth. Then she looked at Hanod with desperate eyes.

“Hanod, perhaps…”

“No good. It’s too solid, so it’s useless.”

The supreme-level artifact was completely different from the general artifacts they had imagined.

Its body was so sturdy that ordinary attacks absolutely wouldn’t work, and its appearance was horrifying.

The machine with legs, a neck, and even a head attached to its torso looked exactly like an artificial dragon at first glance.

Joseph muttered to himself as if disgusted.

“As expected of an eccentric… what taste…”

Those words about Professor Sadina contained a strange sense of awe along with fear.

Anita muttered again.

“D-don’t say that, Hanod, the sensor seems to be attached to the head, so if we could somehow remove just the head…”

“It’s impossible with my ability. No matter how much mana I pour into it, it’s the same. The part connecting the torso and head is too strong. It’s at a much higher level than you think.”

“T-then how…”

Lark let out a sigh.

“It’s a supreme-level artifact in the first place, so how could we disable it so easily?! That’s why I said we should go for advanced or intermediate levels!”

“Shut up!!”

Anita shouted while clenching both fists tightly. Lark closed his mouth.

Anita glared at Lark with sunken eyes, then turned her gaze to the advanced artifact.

The noise emitted by the artifact made it impossible to think clearly.

“Still, we have to do something, somehow! We have to disable at least this…!!”

She gritted her teeth and gasped for breath.

She had immediately realized upon entering this place that the hideous artifact was no pushover.

But her pride made it impossible to turn back and leave.

Wasn’t this the place she had pushed everyone to enter when they all wanted to disable other grades first?

‘If I leave now, Seleneae Tigris might disable that thing!’

On the way to the examination hall, she had clearly heard what that girl was saying to her teammates.

That the supreme-level artifact would be nothing special, that she could definitely break through it with her ability – that confident voice chattering away.

That voice acting arrogant with an ability that wasn’t even real!

She absolutely could not let the supreme-level artifact be taken away.

If that artifact was disabled not by her, but by Seleneae Tigris…

Anita squeezed her eyes shut and opened them.

What would everyone think of her?

And what about her second brother?

Her mind felt dizzy, and it seemed like blood was rushing backward through her body.

‘I’ll be the only fool again. Only me again…!’

Her head buzzed with anger, so Anita bit her lips hard.

‘Ever since I met that girl…’

Nothing had gone right. Everything was thoroughly tangled and seemed like it would never be untangled.

If not for Seleneae Tigris, she would have already distinguished herself sufficiently at Rishion and more.

The protective barrier ability she possessed was praised as useful within the Empire. The level wasn’t bad either.

‘At first, those beasts, whether monsters or sacred sprites…’

Whether they lived in Rishion Forest or not, she should have just ignored them.

But wasn’t it Seleneae Tigris who arbitrarily escalated the situation?

‘Why does everyone praise such a selfish girl?’

The more she thought about it and mulled it over, the more frustrated she became, and her teeth ground automatically.

Seleneae Tigris was a girl who manipulated even the abilities she possessed.

‘Couldn’t she have manipulated the monsters too?’

Anita’s eyes gleamed coldly.

Seleneae Tigris was a hypocrite.

Not only had she lied and deceived people, but she had even framed herself, making things this difficult.

It was unfair. So unfair that her clenched fists trembled with rage.

She looked across with reddened eyes.

Right now, she was hiding behind the wall with her group members.

The supreme-grade artifact was still spinning in place, searching for targets to attack.

Anita muttered with a trembling voice.

“One last, one last time.”

“….”

“Just one more try. I’ll put up a protective barrier….”

Lark frowned.

“If you’re so confident, put it around yourself and do it. Didn’t you see that thing breathing fire earlier?!”

Anita bit her lips tightly.

As Lark said, the supreme-grade artifact would breathe flames and attack when approached within a certain distance.

That wasn’t all.

It would also fire strange flashes of light at targets detected from long range,

and mana condensates continuously shot out from small holes in its torso.

As a result, blood was flowing from Lark’s forehead, who had approached the artifact earlier.

“Originally, high-grade artifacts were worth 300 points each. Supreme-grade ones were worth 1000 points! That’s more than three times the score!”

“….”

“What do you think the reason is?! Would they have assigned such high points if it was easy to defeat? Right now, because of Miss Anita’s stubbornness, our entire group…!”

Lark’s words trailed off as if his frustration was about to explode.

Naila silently hung her head, and Joseph let out a sigh.

Then Chepri spoke.

“About 7 minutes left now. …There’s no other way.”

“No other way?”

“Let’s leave now.”

Anita’s face scrunched up in displeasure. But before she could open her mouth, Naila stepped forward.

“Th-that won’t work.”

Everyone turned to look at her. Naila continued with a tearful expression.

“It’s already too late to leave now.”

“Already too late. What do you mean?”

“A whole hour has already passed! Seleneae’s group must have already earned a lot of points. Meanwhile, we… even if we leave now….”

“We’ve already lost.”

When Chepri answered calmly, Naila nodded.

Then she looked worriedly at the supreme-grade artifact.

“Also, I’ve been watching how that thing moves, and it seems to be deliberately circling near the exit. If we come out from behind the wall, it will definitely attack us.”

“Ha, so it’s going to block us from leaving too.”

Lark let out a groan. Then he roughly tousled his hair.

“Can’t get close, long-range attacks don’t work. …And escape is hopeless too.”

Joseph added in a self-deprecating voice.

“Our group didn’t have anyone capable of long-range attacks to begin with.”

But then.

Beyond the wall.

Familiar murmuring could be heard from the direction of the door that served as both entrance and exit.

Everyone who turned their heads had their eyes widen in surprise.

What was entering was unmistakably Seleneae and her group members.

Guuuuuuung-

The supreme-grade artifact that had spotted its targets turned around with a heavy metallic sound.

However,

“I’ll draw its attention!”

Verain shouted as if accustomed to this and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A few seconds later, she surprisingly appeared on the complete opposite side of the artifact.

The artifact’s head spun around with a whirring sound.

“…Ha.”

A sigh burst from Anita’s mouth.

It was Verain’s ability that she had thought was useless.

‘Thanks to Miss Anita graciously giving up the excellent friends, our group has become much more comfortable taking the exam.’

Seleneae’s voice echoed in her head. An ominous premonition engulfed her entire body.

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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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