Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son - Chapter 396

Chapter 396: [Terror of the Dead God] [4] [Date with Goddess]
Helena’s smile faded.

“…You’re sure?”

“I don’t joke about pocket realms exploding,” I said flatly, narrowing my eyes at the subtle distortions spreading through the magical field.

“There’s destabilizing mana at the edges. Someone tampered with the place.”

Helena’s expression turned grim. “It’s meant to collapse on them.”

“And take them all with it.” I leaned over the railing slightly. “Including him.”

She followed my gaze to Arthur—no, Adon—still fighting like a beast, unaware that his battlefield was a death trap.

“They wanted to wipe out Adon,” she whispered. “Before he awakened fully.”

“Any idea who would do such a thing?” I asked, looking at her.

Helena let out a soft curse. “I-I don’t know…”

‘If I remember correctly, it was the Michael family….’

To be more specific, the current heir of the family.

[<Why would they do such a thing?>]

‘Well, they are desperate and stupid enough to try and erase gods before they fully bloom.’

Their main goal is to make Ethan the key figure of the church.

‘And no matter how I slice it, Arthur is a lot better than Ethan.’

[<That would cause a lot of internal dispute.>]

‘Why do you think Helena took out the entire church easily?’

I mused, glancing at the girl who stood beside me.

“What are you going to do?”

I turned to her with a flat stare. “What do you think?”

Helena hesitated, then smiled faintly. “You’re going to jump, aren’t you?”

“Nope.”

I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

This event was the reason why Arthur grew so much in the game.

The detonation will teleport the class to the most brutal forest in Lumina.

Arthur will lead the class back to a safe place on his own.

‘This was also the time when Joshephe started to like him.’

Well, all in all, there isn’t any need for me to intervene.

“Are you mad?” Helena said, yanking my shoulder. “If they die here, they will blame us—.”

“Not us. You.” I said, pointing at her. “They will blame you.”

Helena stared at me, stunned.

“…You’re serious.”

I nodded, crossing my arms.

“Dead serious. I’ve already calculated the outcome. They won’t die—not the ones who matter, anyway.”

“Wait! Wait! How!?” Helena said, her voice filled with panic. “The whole realm is going to collapse—.”

“The realm is rigged to collapse, yes, but it’s a transfer trap, not a killing one.”

“…They are innocent children, Himmel.” Arianell quietly whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Trust me.” I said, looking at her. “It’s for their own best.”

“But you don’t know that,” she hissed. “What if they—?”

“Then they were weak,” I cut in coldly. “This is a survival test now. And if they can’t survive this… they’re not worth saving.”

Helena’s lips parted in protest, but no words came out.

Instead, she looked away, biting the inside of her cheek.

[<Cold.>]

‘Rude.’

“We need to do something!?” Helena whispered, her voice trembling. “We can’t just let them—.”

“Helena.” I said, letting out a sigh. “Stop it.”

“…What?”

“Stop your act.”

I said, raising my hand to grab her veil, as I pushed it aside to look at her face.

“I know who you are.”

Just like I expected.

She wasn’t panicking.

Not at all.

She was grinning ear to ear.

Like the crazy bitch she is.

I let go of her veil as I looked down on the main plaza.

‘I hope you die, Joshephe.’

I thought, staring at the girl one last time.

We both turned back to the balcony, just as the pocket realm shuddered with a high-pitched screech of cracking mana.

It folded in on itself like broken glass—

BOOM!

—and vanished in a ripple of space, leaving behind only scorched air and stunned silence.

Gasps erupted from the audience below.

Teachers scrambled in an instant, trying to save the students.

But….

There wasn’t anything for them to save.

And yet, I simply stepped back.

“It’s done,” I muttered.

Helena lowered her veil again, masking the lingering smirk that still tugged at her lips.

“You really are cruel,” she whispered, her voice now calm… eerily so.

“…”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I looked at Arianell.

She stood rigid, fists clenched at her sides.

I didn’t need to see her eyes to know what was going through her mind.

‘Guilt. Doubt. Helplessness.’

Was it the guilt of leeching on my life?

She didn’t try harder to stop me or help the children.

‘…Either way.’

It’s time to capitalize on the opportunity.

“It was the Michael family who did this.” I said, looking at Helena. “Their heir was the one who came up with the plan to kill Arthur.”

Helena remained silent. For a while, she let out creepy giggles.

“You are so bad.” She whispered, bumping her shoulder with mine. “I knew you were the best choice as my partner.”

I looked at her with disgust but didn’t rebuke—for now.

She is going to be important to break the church from the inside.

They wanted to fuck with me, so they should be ready for this.

“Do I need to give you proof?” I asked, looking at her.

“A general direction is enough.” She replied, shaking her head. “I can take care of the rest.”

“Good.”

I replied, walking away from the chaos.

“Oh right.” Turning around, I pointed at her. “Make sure to announce it was me who accused them.”

She let out a soft giggle. “Aye, partner~.”

I shrugged, walking away.

“Where are you going?” Helena asked.

“To have some fresh air.” I replied, without looking back.

She didn’t stop me while I walked out of the place, thinking about one more event.

‘Just after this, Ethan and Arthur also got closer.’

Now that would also be a huge blow for Ethan and for the entire Michael family as well.

The fewer people he had to rely on, the better for me.

‘All that I need to do now is bait those fuckers into betting the snow dallet.’

It shouldn’t be that hard.

People in desperation and rage often make stupid mistakes.

I mean, I am the prime example of that.

‘Now then… what should I do?’

I’m practically free until tomorrow night when I have a meeting with the Archangel families.

‘…Hmm?’

A sudden thought flashed past my mind as I halted just outside the academy.

‘Goddess Inna.’

[<Huh? Y-yes?>]

‘Would you like to give this mortal a chance to go on a date with you?’

[<…..>]

She was silent for a long while.

***

The Kandam Continent is a lot bigger than any other continent in Lumina.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they are almost an entire world in themselves.

A self-sufficient world on their own.

So, in such a large place, it’s possible for a variety of cultures to flourish together.

“Himmel! Himmel! Look at this.”

Inna’s voice made me look in her direction as she placed her hand over a tank of fish.

Not the normal ones, but enormous ones.

But—.

Instead of looking at them, I stared at Inna—or should I say, the face she had morphed into.

“You had to choose an ugly face, didn’t you?” I grumbled, walking closer to her.

Inna turned toward me, pouting dramatically with her new appearance.

It was… unique, to say the least.

She’d taken on the form of a short girl with a mess of curly red hair, slightly mismatched eyes, and a constellation of freckles across her cheeks.

“I think it’s charming!” she huffed, spinning in place and nearly bumping into a stall.

“Besides, it’s not the face that matters, it’s the experience, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You look like a goblin pretending to be a flower girl.”

“Rude!”

“Honest.”

She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out, then turned back to the tank.

“These fish are older than your bloodline, you know? They’re called Ashen Leviatlets. Spirit-bonded creatures.”

I curiously looked at the fishes as well.

They look a lot more like sharks than fish.

“Do they taste good?” I asked, glancing at Inna. “They don’t look great.”

“I don’t know.” She replied, shrugging as her eyes caught something else.

“I see noodles there! Let’s go!”

She beamed, practically skipping towards the shop.

“You know, when I asked you out, I wasn’t expecting this.” I said, placing my hands in my overcoat.

“Were you expecting something fancy?” She asked, looking back at me. “Too bad I don’t like dates like that.”

I gave her a flat look. “So, what do you like?”

She smiled, clasping her hands behind her, and for a moment I saw the real Inna beneath her goofy appearance.

“You.” She said. “I like you.”

“….”

I looked away, feeling my heart rate suddenly spiking off the charts.

‘She will give me a heart attack one day.’

[<A critical hit, wasn’t it?>]

‘…. Stop talking in my mind when you are in front of me.’

[<Anyway, follow me, Mortal.>]

‘….Stop talking in my mind.’

“Not my fault you’re slow,” she said aloud this time, sticking her tongue out playfully.

“Besides, it’s more fun teasing you when you can’t hide your thoughts.”

“You do realize that makes you a stalker, right?” I muttered as I caught up beside her.

“I’m a goddess,” she countered, fluttering her lashes. “Stalking is worship. Technically.”

I nodded with a chuckle as I walked towards her.

Looking around, I found a lot of people looking at us with weird faces.

‘They might be wondering how did the girl get so lucky.’

[<It’s the opposite though.>]

Why can’t she stop doing this?

I rubbed my chin as I looked at Inna who was guiding the path.

‘…Hmm?’

“This isn’t your first time, Inna?” I asked, walking beside her.

“Nope. I have been here.” She replied, smiling at me. “… Almost three thousand years ago.”

“…Ah.” I mumbled, looking at her. “You are old.”

A sudden smack on my hand almost broke it in half.

I winced as she glared at me, her cheeks turning crimson.

“Stop acting like you are young.” She grumbled, smacking me one more time. “In fact, you are older than me.”

“…..”

I suddenly halted in my steps as I looked at her blankly.

“It was a joke. Stop being serious.”

As if noticing her blunder, Inna quickly tried to make excuses.

I looked at her blankly. “You just admitted I’m older than a goddess.”

Inna froze, eyes darting like a cornered beast. “T-technically! But you’re… like… weird-old. Not god-old.”

“Inna.”

I drew in a deep breath, staring at her.

“Please be honest with me.”

“…”

She didn’t reply, instead just stared back at me.

Her eyes begged me to not question anything.

But….

I couldn’t remain silent now.

“How many lives have I lived… No. For how many lives have I known you?”

Her lips trembled slightly as she just looked at me.

“Please be honest, Inna.”

I asked once again.

She let out a sigh.

Her eyes tiredly finding something in mine.

“Seven.”

Her words made my mind numb.

“I have met you in seven different lifetimes.”