Villain: Your Heroines Were Delicious - Chapter 198 - 63

Chapter 198: Chapter 63

The sensation of the black, oily limb piercing her abdomen was unlike anything Emi had ever felt.

It wasn’t just the sharp, mechanical rip of flesh, but the cold, invasive void that seemed to suck the very heat from her soul.

Ah, it hurts…

The thought was sluggish, drifting through her mind like a leaf on a stagnant pond.

Why does this thing have to hurt so much? Emi wondered, her consciousness fraying at the edges.

She had always been the type to avoid conflict. She hated exercise, she hated responsibility, and more than anything in this world, she absolutely hated pain.

It was for this very reason that she preferred the digital safety of video games and the predictable arcs of anime.

In a game, you could just reload a save.

In a game, the “HP” bar was just a number, not a searing agony that made you want to claw your own skin off.

Lemme just sleep… it’s too much…

She felt herself drifting, her body growing light.

She turned her head, a phantom sensation of a soft pillow pressing against her cheek, and for a fleeting moment, she genuinely thought she was back in her bed at the Kageyama estate, the morning sun blocked out by heavy curtains.

But the moment she tried to pull the “covers” up, the memory of the warehouse, the screaming women, and the grotesque entity slammed back into her mind.

At that, she forced herself to “stand” within her own mind, her eyes snapping open.

The shock that followed was physical, as what she saw was not the suspended, gray world of the parking garage.

There was no oily monster, no smell of diesel, and no freezing time. Instead, she stood in the center of a breathtaking, endless grassfield.

Above her, the sky was a vibrant, impossible blue, decorated with fluffy white clouds that moved lazily in a gentle breeze.

The sun was warm on her face, and the air smelled of blooming jasmine and wild earth.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

A voice, resonant and calm, sounded from right behind her, causing to Emi jumped, spinning around so fast she nearly tripped over her own feet.

Her breath caught in her throat as standing just a few paces away was a man who looked as though he had been carved from the very concept of heroism.

He was tall, with deep, bronze skin and eyes that held the wisdom of a thousand battlefields.

He wore regal white robes accented with gold, and his presence was so overwhelming that the very grass seemed to bow toward him.

“Y-You… You’re Arjuna!” Emi stammered, her eyes wide.

Arjuna offered a small, dignified smile. “Indeed I am. I pulled your consciousness into this mental landscape because, quite frankly, you were seconds away from death.”

“What!? No! I can’t die yet!” Emi’s panic returned in a rush. “I haven’t finished my backlog of games! I haven’t been with Seijirou enough! I have so many things I have yet to do!”

“Calm down. Take a breath,” Arjuna said, his voice acting like a cooling balm on her nerves. “I will not let you die. You are my contractor, and our bond is not so easily severed by a mere fragment of the void.”

Emi let out a long, shaky sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging. “Really? That’s good. I really thought I was a goner for a second there.”

“Don’t be too happy yet,” Arjuna cautioned, his expression turning solemn. “At this moment, I am doing my absolute best to keep your physical body functional. My flames are burning at their peak to keep that filth from invading your heart and to prevent it from consuming you. However, this is not a permanent solution. Your mortal body is being subjected to intense thermal stress. If you do not return and finish this quickly, you will be burned to ashes from the inside out by my own protection.”

“…That’s terrifying,” Emi muttered, hugging herself as she looked around the beautiful field, her mind racing. “But wait… I’m surprised you can even interfere like this. Seijirou… he said spirits usually can’t touch the material world directly. Aren’t you just a recorded soul?”

Arjuna smiled, the breeze tossing his dark hair. “Normally yes, but I’m sure he explained to you and your friends about what he heard from that dragon, yes? When the spirit and the contractor reach a certain level of synchronicity, the spirit can choose to manifest a portion of its true authority if the need is dire.”

Emi’s blinked, as if remembering it. “Oh, yeah. He did mention that, but if I remember correctly, if it really happened, I’ll lose my contract with you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Arjuna assured her, stepping closer. “This is a special circumstance. That thing you are fighting against is an affront to the natural order. I asked for—and received—permission from the higher realms to interfere without breaking our bond. Think of it as a temporary patch to your reality.”

“Is that so? Then… what do you need me for? Why bring me here?”

Arjuna’s eyes turned sharp, his gaze piercing through her. “Do you know the true origin of that thing you are fighting?”

“A demon from a stopwatch given to that creep?” Emi guessed.

Arjuna shook his head. “Not quite. Long ago, during the Age of Gods, extraterrestrial entities known as the ’Outer Gods’ attempted to invade this world. They were cosmic horrors, beyond human comprehension. With the combined effort of the heroes of that age—myself included—we managed to defeat them. Their physical forms were destroyed, but their essence, their ’corpses,’ remained. They were sealed deep within the most secure vaults of the Grand Order.”

Emi felt a chill that had nothing to do with the wind.

“Unfortunately,” Arjuna continued, his voice dripping with ancient disdain, “the greed of modern humans knows no bounds. They unsealed the remains, hoping to harvest the power of the beyond, but in doing so, they allowed fragments of those beings to leak into the world. These fragments are the ’artifacts’ that Mister and his circle are using. They are not Karyoku, nor even ki; they are infections.”

“So… do you want me to go on a quest to eliminate all of them?” Emi asked.

She hopes not. That sounds like a pain in the ass.

“If you wish to, eventually,” Arjuna said. “But for now, there is no need. These fragments are gathering in your city because of a, let’s just say, a very special person. Not to mention there are others already dealing with the wider infestation, so my only concern right now is protecting you and ensuring that this specific fragment is erased.”

“I see.” Emi nodded, her face finally losing its fear as she stood tall, her eyes mirroring the amber fire of her Karyoku. “Then, help me. Give me what I need to win.”

Arjuna smiled, pleased by her sudden determination. “Very well. Normally, you would have to undergo years of intense spiritual refinement to achieve this state. But since we are out of time, I will allow you to borrow a fragment of my true essence. I will show you the pinnacle of the Archer’s art.”

Emi tilted her head, confused. “Pinnacle?”

“Listen carefully, my contractor. The name of this technique is—.”

*

*

*

Back in the gray, frozen world of the parking garage, the oily entity was just inches away from Emi’s throat, its needle-limbs poised to finish the harvest.

“OVERSOUL!”

The scream didn’t come from Emi’s throat alone, but it echoed from the very air around her.

Her body suddenly erupted in a pillar of blinding, burning hot flames.

The force of the thermal shock was so great that the entity was physically blown back, its oily mass hissing and bubbling as it retreated in a state of primal fear.

At this moment, Arjuna’s phantom appeared once more, but this time, he didn’t immediately disappear, but instead he leaned forward, his form collapsing into a concentrated sphere of pure, blue-white soul energy.

The sphere then slammed into Emi’s chest, merging with her.

At that moment, Emi’s body underwent a terrifying transformation.

She grew several inches taller, her muscles becoming lean and defined.

Her skin took on a deep, bronze hue, and her clothes was consumed by the fire, replaced by a sleek, white formfitting robe with intricate blue and gold accents.

Behind her, four massive wings made of literal solar flares burst forth, illuminating the gray world with the light of a new sun.

Even her bow, the Gandiva became a solid, golden frame wreathed in roaring flames.

At this moment, Emi felt like she was a god!

’Remember, Emi. Your body can only hold this for ten seconds. End this in a single instant,’ Arjuna’s voice echoed in her mind.

Emi didn’t respond with words, she simply raised the flaming Gandiva, the bowstrings humming with the sound of a thousand choruses.

She drew back the string, and a massive arrow of white fire materialized, its tip vibrating with enough heat to melt the concrete floor beneath her feet.

Then …. She released.

The arrow seems like it completely erased the concept of distance, turning into a spear of pure, divine judgment that burned through the very fabric of the time-stop.

The entity tried to flicker away, tried to split its mass, but the heat was so absolute that it began to melt into a puddle of foul steam before the arrow even struck.

The flaming bolt engulfed the creature, triggering a massive, blinding explosion of solar energy.

The gray world immediately shattered, the desaturated colors of reality rushing back in as the fragment was reduced to nothingness.

The parking garage immediately returned to normal.

The lights stopped flickering, with the silence broken only by the sound of the burning arrow’s impact crater cooling down.

Emi stood at the center of the scorched place, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps.

The white robes and the bronze skin began to fade, her original form returning as the Oversoul dissipated and the divine heat left her body, replaced by a cold, overwhelming exhaustion.

“D-Did I… do it…?” she whispered.

But before she can say anything more, her eyes rolled back into her head, and her knees gave way, her consciousness slipped into the dark, and she passed out in the middle of the scorched concrete.