The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 196

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Episode 66
“Get back, Rozelin. I….”
Rozelin saw Amon rising from his seat with that ominous tone, and she flicked her index finger against the ears that jutted prominently from the top of his head.
Amon’s entire body shuddered violently—Thud-thud-thud.
“Ah……?”
“You have ears…….”
Rozelin ran her fingers tentatively over her own head, murmuring as if confirming something.
Only then did Amon realize that the Hat he’d been wearing lay rolling across the floor.
He dashed over and pressed the Hat firmly back onto his head.
“…… Look, about this, Rozelin.”
Amon approached her hastily, his face drained of all color, a ghastly pale white.
“Rozelin, let me explain. I know you’re shocked, but this isn’t anything unpleasant or a sickness or anything like that…….”
“It’s cute.”
“Yes……?”
“I never would’ve thought ears on a human head could be this cute…….”
Rozelin murmured with an almost grave seriousness.
Amon raised his hand and pressed his eyes shut gently as Rozelin continued muttering, her arms crossed.
“You always have to do this in moments like…….”
He muttered quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“And you don’t have to keep it secret.”
Rozelin said this and strode toward the Emperor. Then she grasped the sword he was holding with both hands and squeezed with full force.
Clang!
The sword snapped cleanly in two.
The Emperor’s eyes widened in shock.
“See? I told you.”
“…….”
“…….”
The entire room fell into silence.
Could a matter of such magnitude really end with such a cheerful remark?
‘Wasn’t that the sword Father treasured so much?’
Amon’s eyes rolled back and forth as he thought.
Sebirus, the Emperor, gazed down at his broken sword with a somewhat dazed expression.
He lifted his head quietly, observing the girl who appeared somehow triumphant and satisfied, and behind her, the boy with ears whose expression was plainly flustered.
“…… Huh? Mm.”
“It’s fine. I’m sturdy enough that most things barely scratch me.”
“…… I see.”
It was certainly a statement that left no room for doubt whatsoever.
“Anyway, since you’re weaker than me, stay behind.”
“…….”
At the soothing tone of Rozelin’s voice, something that felt like pride within Amon seemed to snap audibly.
The boy’s lips trembled slightly before he quietly nodded his head.
He normally broke stone and caused tables to shatter with even the gentlest application of force, so he’d suspected some new ability had manifested.
‘…… But isn’t this way too strong?’
Snapping a sword in half with bare hands was rather excessive.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, he slowly lifted his head to look at his father.
The Emperor examined the broken sword from different angles, then placed it on the table and looked back at Amon.
“…….”
The man, his eyes narrowed to slits, studied the boy for some time before suddenly collapsing back into his chair.
“Marquis Wilbred has brought something like a monster into his house.”
Amon’s eyebrows twitched once.
The Emperor’s expression seemed noticeably more composed than before, as if he’d arrived at some conclusion.
“Both of you, sit.”
He gestured with his head.
Rozelin took Amon’s hand and gently pulled him along, having sensed that the hostility had vanished from the other party.
“I heard the Beast-kin went extinct thousands of years ago.”
He poured strong liquor into a cup as he spoke. The stack of Liquor Bottles on the windowsill was already on its second one.
Usually, liquor this potent was too much for one person to drink entirely, yet it was remarkable how he consumed it without the slightest change in his complexion.
Amon reached out and knocked the cup to the floor.
“…… What are you doing?”
Sebirus, whose hand had suddenly swept through empty air, made his displeasure clear.
“How about not drinking in front of the children?”
It was Rozelin who found herself taken aback by Amon’s cool, forceful voice.
“Amon, it’s all right. I don’t mind…….”
“No. The smell is so strong—if you get drunk, what then?”
“If I get drunk…….”
That would actually be welcome.
It had been quite some time since she’d had a drink, after all.
But it wasn’t the sort of thing to say given the mood, so she simply stayed quiet.
Watching Amon’s rigid expression, Rozelin nodded awkwardly.
“You’re right.”
She turned to Sebirus.
Sebirus scowled fiercely before clicking his tongue.
“What do you need the Holy Sword for?”
His gentle tone seemed to have abandoned the effort in light of Amon’s actions; now he asked with palpable irritation.
“You’re being blackmailed by Amon, aren’t you?”
Rather than answer, Rozelin turned the question back on him.
“…….”
Sebirus narrowed his eyes and regarded her.
“You knew that name, somehow.”
“……Just a feeling?”
“Nonsense.”
He didn’t let her off easily as Irbon might have. He himself seemed to lack any leisure.
“That woman has an interesting ability.”
Sebirus fondled the liquor bottle as though he craved it, then grimaced.
“So can you lend me the sword?”
“If you’re thinking of killing that woman, give it up. It won’t work.”
Sebirus had apparently faced her before; his reply was curt.
“The Holy Sword had no effect either. I even doubted whether it was a true Holy Sword.”
“Why won’t it work?”
“Because my attacks couldn’t land on her.”
What did that mean?
Rozelin tilted her head in bewilderment.
“Because she’s too strong?”
“No. It’s as if Fate itself decided I couldn’t reach her—my attacks simply wouldn’t connect.”
Sebirus uttered words that made even less sense.
He fell silent, then picked up a broken sword from nearby and swung it down at the liquor bottle.
But…….
The bottle didn’t shatter.
The broken sword stopped short, suspended just before the glass.
It wasn’t that the Emperor had halted the blade—rather, there seemed to be a thin layer of invisible air surrounding the bottle, protecting it, making it impossible to strike. It felt like a barrier.
Like a shield.
“That’s the feeling. A compulsory rule had been imposed—that humans could not kill that woman.”
Having explained, the Emperor cast aside the sword in his hand.
No matter what attack he tried, it was the same. Something that didn’t exist seemed to interfere.
“I went into the Forbidden Library for the first time in my life and searched through countless volumes. Not a single human can kill a Demon.”
Sebirus made a loose fist, then opened it as he spoke.
“Demons serve a function necessary to keep the world turning, so they’re protected by some great force.”
It was ridiculous.
His added words were saturated with frustration.
Rozelin, watching his sunken eyes, discerned within them a faint resignation and rage—as if he were someone who had already given up on living.
“In the age when the Empire was not yet the Empire, the first king who founded the primitive nation that became the Empire’s ancestor was said to be able to kill any Demon. But…….”
The Emperor clicked his tongue and irritably swept his hair back.
“That first king left behind the Holy Sword itself, or so I’m told. Though it proved useless.”
“The first king? Not Emperor?”
“Dianitas only started calling itself an Empire about two thousand years ago. The nation’s name has changed countless times.”
Rozelin tilted her head at Sebirus’s words.
‘A first king who could kill any Demon. Lord of Demons—Solomon.’
She sensed a connection somehow.
She reached out to pat Amon’s hand gently, unable to hide her murderous gaze, and opened her mouth.
“Could the first king’s name have been Solomon?”
“Solomon? No, I’ve never heard of a name like that…….”
Sebirus trailed off mid-sentence, his brow narrowing slightly as if in thought.
A moment later, as understanding dawned, he released a short breath tinged with realization.
“Ah…… that’s right. Pronounced in the Ancient Language, that’s how it would be rendered.”
“The Ancient Language?”
“Few would be ignorant of the First King’s name. He’s spoken of across such vast spans of time that he’s called the very origin of mankind itself.”
Sebirus turned to Rozelin, who still hadn’t grasped it, and continued.
“The First King, spoken of as the origin of mankind — Solomon.”

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