Memoirs of the Returnee

The Meaning of Villain (4)

Layla mulled over it.

She was agonized.

Tormented.

If Raquel Dra is indeed targeting her, what should she do in such a situation?

Although she always wore the Mila suit beneath her clothes… it was an emergency suit, so its performance wasn’t outstanding.

She couldn’t guarantee victory.

“…What are you going to do?”

The child asked. Layla glanced at him.

“What did you say your name was?”

“Divo.”

“How old are you?”

“Ten.”

“…Impressive.”

Ten years old.

When she was ten, all she had were memories of sulking because her dad was too busy inventing things rather than playing with her.

Layla turned to Rhine.

“I’m going to Elly first. I can’t compromise on Elly.”

“But-”

“It’s for your safety as well.”

Layla’s gaze sharpened.

“Elly is the daughter of Petra Senator. If you don’t want to get out of here safely only to die a dog’s death later, listen to me.”

Her voice was low and heavy. However, Rhine couldn’t really refute her words.

Rhine sighed.

“Understood. But remember, if Elise becomes infected… we all won’t be able to handle it, and in the end, we’ll have to.”

He paused, then pointed at the laptop screen.

“…Join forces with Raquel Dra.”

“…Do whatever you want. It’s the same as selling your soul to the devil.”

Layla retorted sharply and tried to leave, but Rhine blocked her way.

“What now? Why are you blocking the way?”

“You can’t go out.”

“Then what-”

“We’ll communicate through the walkie-talkie.”

Rhine pointed at Layla’s waist. There was a walkie-talkie as big as a large rhinoceros beetle.

“…You’re making things complicated. Fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

Divo looked up at Layla with a smile.

“What is?”

“…I feel safe with you here, Layla. You’ll protect us.”

“Well…”

Layla pouted her lips for no reason. She then set her expression firmly and turned back to Rhine.

“But, as long as I’m here, don’t you dare touch Elly.”

“Understood. I promise.”

Rhine nodded as he sheathed his sword.

* * *

The outbreak of Void’s infection.

This incident was supposed to happen far in the future before I regressed.

I still don’t understand why things have become so twisted, but anyway.

I searched through the excessively large tower, one floor after another. Swarms of infected were the obstacles.

After patrolling and hunting for over a dozen hours, finally.

“…There’s something suspicious here.”

I discovered a place with a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

The 23rd floor. It was decorated like a theme park. There was a house of phantoms, some sort of railroad track, and caves.

I activated the SZX-9500.

Inside the house of phantoms, a strange magical power was detected. It writhed like a living creature. It was the ‘source.’

“I’ve found it.”

I picked up the radio.

“Elise. Can you hear me?”

─…Yes, I can hear you.

Her voice was still soaked with pain, but it seemed she had regained some of her senses.

“I’ve investigated the internal magical fluctuations from outside. There’s an unusual wave on the 23rd floor?”

─…Really?

Elise answered with a trembling voice.

“Yeah.”

─Okay then…

Multiple voices came through the radio. They were civilians. They were all asking with an excited tone if support was coming from outside.

There would probably be a lot of support.

Mostly from the ‘military,’ though.

─…I’ll pass it on to Layla.

This infection outbreak wasn’t resolved in my past life either.

The military and the knights were dispatched, and they killed all the infected. People who held out like Elise eventually died too, as the foreign lifeforms burrowed into their brains.

Of course, Elise is an exceptional case.

She managed to restrain the foreign lifeform from scrambling her brain with her own power.

─Shion.

Suddenly, Elise spoke.

“What.”

──Uh… just… no, never mind.

Her voice lacked strength. She was completely different from her usual confident self.

“Just hang in there.”

I cut off the communication.

Now, I plan to hide here for a while.

Void will surely return to the scene.

* * *

“23rd floor?!”

─Yes.

As soon as Layla received the transmission, she jumped up excitedly.

“Okay! Hey! We’ve got contact from outside!”

She immediately told Divo. Divo looked surprised, and Rhine was skeptical.

“…That can’t be. It’s impossible.”

“Impossible my ass!”

“Well, if it’s a hallucination, that could be possible.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Anyway, let’s just go check out the 23rd floor. Elly is a genius, you know? She’ll definitely be able to dismantle the formula. Oh, wait a minute. Elly!”

Layla spoke into the radio.

“Do we need anything? Tell us everything you need!”

─…Microscope. Mana stone solution. Paper. Magic detector. Mana Analyzer.

“Okay. Got it.”

Layla wrote down the list of items on Divo’s laptop.

“Get these for us.”

“…….”

Rhine silently looked somewhere else for a moment, then quietly nodded.

“Understood. I’ll call someone to bring them over.”

“We need to bring Elly too.”

“Let’s do that.”

Surprisingly compliant. It seems like there might be some ulterior motive.

“…I’ve said it. If anyone dares to harm Elly—”

“I won’t. If there’s support from outside, there’s no need for me to do that. If the support is real, that is.”

The words were loaded with meaning, but now they had to trust each other. Fighting and doubting each other wouldn’t solve anything.

Layla relayed the message to Elise.

“Elly. We’re coming to you now.”

“Me too.”

That’s when Divo raised his hand.

“I’ll go too.”

“…You’re just a kid. Stay here.”

“It’s okay. I can handle magic, so I can be of help. I can assist Ms. Elise.”

Divo was unusually confident. Layla looked puzzled and turned to Rhine.

“He’s right. This child has been quite helpful to us.”

“…….”

Still feeling a bit uneasy, but well.

“Alright. But don’t you dare get in the way.”

There’s no need to risk a brave child unnecessarily. Each combatant is important, after all.

* * *

On the 7th floor, Layla met up with Elise and her group. But there were people she hadn’t seen before on the bed: a man and a child.

“…Who is that person?”

Layla asked who they were. Elise answered.

“The man is Mr. Jackson. The girl is Yeri. They collapsed from exhaustion as soon as they arrived, so we let them rest.”

“Survivors…”

“Are they not infected?”

Rhine furrowed his brow and examined them closely. Layla pushed him lightly.

“Ease up, will you!”

“…….”

Rhine silently glared at her. Layla playfully touched Elly’s cheeks with both hands.

“Elly. Can you make it up to the 23rd floor? Your cheeks are so warm. You have a fever… You’re like a hot bun.”

“…Let go.”

“Why are you wearing a hat?”

“…….”

It was to cover the magnets stuck to her head. No matter how bad her condition was, it looked too ridiculous.

“Elly…”

“I said let go.”

Elise swatted Layla’s hand away and alternated her gaze between Rhine and Divo.

“…Why is the child here?”

“He’s a smart kid. He knows how to use magic spells. Really clever. He wants to be your assistant.”

“…….”

Elise looked a bit perplexed but didn’t want to think too much about it. It was that kind of situation.

“Are you really okay?”

Divo looked at her as if he was amazed. Elise, with a headache, furrowed her brow and said,

“Okay? What do you mean okay… Let’s just go to the 23rd floor.”

* * *

Elise, Layla, Rhine, Divo, and four other escorts, along with a cart full of items for formula analysis.

The eight of them arrived at the 23rd floor together. Of course, they encountered countless infected bodies on the way up. Those who were once human perished by Rhine’s sword, and were knocked unconscious by Layla’s Magic Spell.

Layla couldn’t bring herself to kill them.

Rhine looked at her with eyes full of frustration, but in truth, no one was more frustrated than Layla herself.

Because there might be a way to turn them back into humans…

“It looks like that’s the place.”

Elise pointed to the house of the phantom. A chilling aura was detected inside.

“Let’s go in. Mr. Rhine? Please lead the way.”

“…Layla, if infected come from behind, please make sure to double-check they’re down.”

They slowly made their way inside, on guard for any potential ambush by infected.

Slowly, ever so slowly.

“…Ugh.”

Elise occasionally groaned, and Rhine watched with an ominous expression for 10 minutes.

Finally, they arrived at the ‘source’.

“This seems to be it.”

There was a huge magic spell on the floor. It writhed in a blood-red hue, alive like an octopus.

Elise swallowed hard at the sight of it.

“Get the items ready. I’ll do some research.”

“Should we deactivate the barrier first?”

Rhine asked. Elise shook her head.

“…No. We need to find a way to stop this infection first. We can’t go outside yet.”

“Fortunately, you think the same as I do.”

Rhine let out a sigh of relief and chimed in.

“Can’t we reverse-engineer the formula and emit a wave that kills all the infected?”

“Why would you kill them all!”

Layla interjected hastily. Rhine’s eyebrows shot up.

“Then what do we do?”

“We have to separate the infected from it! Elly! Can we do that?”

“…Easier said than done.”

Elise was clenching her teeth due to the increasing pain when suddenly,

Thud─

Heavy footsteps landed from somewhere.

“…What was that. Who was it just now?”

Layla tilted her head in confusion. She looked around swiftly. The house of the phantom was quite dark, so only silhouettes were barely visible.

Instead, Layla counted the number of silhouettes.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight… nine.

“…Why are there nine?”

The moment Layla said that,

Sssshing──!

Rhine drew his sword and aimed in that direction. Layla also quickly ignited a flame.

Whoosh!

The blazing fire illuminated the darkness. Among Layla’s group, a figure that seemed to press down the darkness like a shadow stood there.

The villain with a hockey mask.

Raquel Dra.

“You──!”

Layla was about to unleash her magic power when she hesitated. Raquel Dra was standing right behind a small child.

It was ‘Divo’.

“…Divo!”

“Layla, calm down.”

Rhine swallowed hard, his magic body summoned as he kept his sword pointed at Raquel.

Raquel placed his hands on Divo’s shoulders, as if to take him hostage.

“Don’t do it!”

Layla shouted loudly. Elise, suffering from a headache, looked at Raquel Dra but couldn’t focus properly.

“Let the child go. Take me as your hostage instead. You came here because of me, didn’t you?”

She extended her hand as she spoke.

The man showed little reaction.

“…You bastard! Let the kid go!!”

Then, Divo looked up at Raquel Dra and whispered very softly, a voice only the two of them could hear.

…I know.

Raquel’s gaze shifted slightly downward. He looked straight at Divo.

…That you won’t kill me.

Divo wore a smile-like expression.

From within the hockey mask, a heavy bass voice settled.

─You’ve seen.

…Yes. You saved a child. You must have your own convictions, like me.

Raquel Dra remained silent.

In the eerily quiet house of the phantom, Layla’s skin prickled, and her hair stood on end.

Divo continued slowly.

…I’ve brought the person you want. We can work together.

─The person I want?

Divo glanced down at Layla.

Raquel Dra would want to kill Layla. If the only daughter of the Hilton family were taken out, it would cause immense chaos in Trick City.

At least, that’s what Divo believed.

As a fellow villain.

…I also know who you are. I’ve tried anagrams too, haven’t I? Right, ‘Dale’?

Divo.

It is Void (Void).

…I also know who you are. I’ve tried anagrams too, haven’t I? Right, ‘Dale’?

─That’s right.

Raquel Dra turned Divo around to face him. Divo looked up at him with a smile, and he whispered something very quietly──

“…!”

In an instant, Divo’s relaxed expression changed. His eyes filled with horror. His skin turned rigid with cold.

“Oh, no!

Divo turned around, shouting loudly and reaching out to Layla.

“Save me, please save me!! Save me──!!!!”

“Divo!”

Layla tried to rush to him, but

──!

Raquel was quicker and detonated a Gale.

Divo collapsed in an instant.

The small body fell powerlessly backward.

That image was seared onto Layla’s retina.

“Ah… you son of a bitch—!”

Raquel Dra drew his wand. He swung it at Layla as she charged at him.

Wham───!

A massive current of air pressed down on her. Rhine extended his sword, but Raquel’s Gale blade pierced his heart first.

“…R, Rhine!”

Layla watched Rhine fall like a leaf, sprawled on the ground.

“Kuh, kuhhh!!”

She struggled with all her might. But the pressure of dozens of tons pinned her down.

She couldn’t breathe. Not a single fingertip could move. Even the ‘Suit’ couldn’t be activated… The fate of the remaining guards was self-evident.

They didn’t dare to defy him and could only kneel.

Life is precious, after all.

The last one standing, Elise, glared at Raquel Dra.

“…You.”

─Disengage the barrier.

“No. The infection will spread. We need to find a formula that can detoxify the infection first—”

─There is no such thing. This isn’t poison. Those who are infected have already become one with the foreign life form and can never return to their former selves.

Elise’s gaze wavered.

─But you are not yet. The foreign magic entity in your head is still clinging to you. It hasn’t burrowed into your brain yet.

Raquel Dra’s diagnosis was very fast.

Did he understand his condition just by glancing at it?

─It’s just a matter of time. You don’t have much time left.

“…Then? What’s the way? How can I survive?”

─By drilling into the skull and directly extracting the extraterrestrial life form. Delicate surgery is required. For that, you must open the barrier.

“……”

Elise’s gaze dropped. She looked at Layla cautiously.

“Eugh… keugh…”

She doesn’t seem to have any leisure. Not even a little bit.

Elise knew the magical formula Raquel Dra used to subdue Layla. It gathered a current to momentarily disrupt the opponent’s movements.

A very simple 「Flow Manipulation」.

However, the formula, which was merely 「Flow Manipulation」, was incomprehensibly powerful. Its output and performance were immense, far surpassing that of ordinary magic.

Simply put──

There was a severe difference in class.

Raquel Dra was no ordinary mage.

Certainly, Elise as she was now could not compete.

No, even a top-ranked mage active in the field would find it impossible.

─There is no time to hesitate.

Elise surveyed her surroundings.

Divo, collapsed. Layla, sprawled on the ground, growling like an animal. Rhine, bleeding out and dying. The others, kneeling and looking only at her, begging with their eyes for her to do as Raquel Dra said.

“Haah…”

Elise sighed. She faced Raquel Dra, and although she couldn’t see his eyes because of the hockey mask, she spoke.

“…Promise me. If I open the barrier, you will spare the others.”

Raquel Dra nodded as if he had been waiting for her to say that.

──I promise.

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