A Villain's Guide to Saving the World-Chapter 44: The Great Villain! Gaining Information Through Sadism...?

Chapter 44: The Great Villain! Gaining Information Through Sadism...?

Lucian stood, hands burning with hellfire as he waited for the assassin to move.

Suddenly, two huge dark pillars came crashing down toward where Lucian stood.

Lucian laughed. He purposefully turned around dramatically, leaving a wide opening at his back as he waved his arms behind him, melting the two pillars into nothing.

The crimson assassin moved, appearing directly at Lucian’s back.

"This is my domain!" he shouted, spear glowing dark and crimson.

"Painful Rising!" He thrust as hard as he could toward Lucian, the sheer force of the strike tearing into the throne room floor, sending shockwaves.

Lucian’s laughter caught mid-breath—cut off by sudden stillness.

He appeared behind the assassin, arms outstretched, hands pressed against the assassin’s back.

"It’s your mind, but it’s my spell," Lucian snickered, igniting a combustion of hellfire at the base of his palm. The explosion was immense.

"Aghh—!" the crimson assassin screamed as the hellfire melted him.

"Was that all?" Lucian chuckled, turning to find the crimson assassin standing exactly where he’d been when they first arrived in the mindscape.

"You can’t physically die from my attacks, but you’ll certainly feel it." He darkly chuckled, covering his mouth. The assassin could attack as many times as he wanted—he had no physical body here. But could his mind really handle it?

The assassin’s face was pale—deathly pale—as if he had just felt death for the first time. And he had.

Terror twisted into fury. Last-resort instincts took over.

"I’m surprised your mind didn’t collapse. Hellfire is quite a way to go, you know?" Lucian snickered as the floor beneath him warped.

"But hey, cheer up. You’re the first one to actually turn your own mind into a weapon, if I remember right." Lucian laughed, tapping his foot once.

A massive lava pool burst forth, soaking Lucian’s legs—but he merely sighed.

"Not gonna work," Lucian said, giving a thumbs-down, a bratty smile playing on his lips.

"RAGGH!" the assassin roared, seemingly losing his mind. He crushed his own spear in his grasp, then started flailing, controlling the mindspace like a psychic.

Huge statues twisted like ragdolls, ripped from the architecture. Bricks and throne room foundations were torn free like candy, flung toward Lucian in waves.

"Want to know something fun...?" Lucian said, winking as the rising lava intercepted the projectiles, melting them into nothing.

"You’re stronger here. But at the same time..." Lucian snickered, his laughter echoing, amplified by the Dominion of Cruelty.

"You’re much more mentally sensitive." His voice faded with the final word—right before he blinked behind the assassin again.

Lucian leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"Welcome to hell. My hell."

Lucian chuckled before lightly touching the assassin’s neck from behind.

"I’ll make this as painful as possible," he murmured, "so this mindscape collapses from the insanity gripping your mind. And finally? You’ll be free."

He laughed at his own twisted version of mercy.

"Dominion of Leadership: Shared Durability," he chanted.

A violet flame flared to life above them, marking the connection between him and the assassin.

"Goodbye..." Lucian grinned wide, then drove his index finger into the assassin’s neck. Hellfire oozed from the tip.

Lucian winced, feeling the same scorching agony—the pain and heat coursing into his own body as he poured the flame into the assassin.

"Aren’t I a good torturer?" he rasped, breath trembling, sweat slicking his face. "Feeling the pain my victims go through must be... benevolent, right?"

He laughed, even as his jaw clenched.

The assassin’s mouth hung open, but no sound came out—his throat melting from the sheer heat. His pupils turned white from the pain, body trembling violently.

Still, he didn’t vanish.

Lucian’s own durability kept the assassin’s form from disintegrating, even as the assassin’s mind begged for death.

The mindscape twisted—walls distorting, air shimmering—a sign that it was working. The assassin’s psyche was unraveling.

[Mind Prison: Memory Absorption Contract (75% Complete)]

Lucian laughed as the notification flashed.

Well, thank you for the reminder, he thought.

"Let’s speed up the process." Lucian withdrew his finger and gripped the assassin’s neck with his full hand from behind.

"This is gonna feel absolutely horrible..." he chuckled, and his hand burst into flame.

The hellfire scorched the assassin’s body, racing from his neck and spreading rapidly across his frame.

Lucian could feel it too—pain slicing through him so vividly he nearly bit back a scream.

"Give in already, you freak!" he growled.

But before he could amplify the flames further, the mindscape abruptly collapsed. The architecture melted like ink into the abyss, taking the assassin’s body with it.

Lucian staggered slightly as the violet flame above him finally flickered out—and with it, the pain vanished.

"Well... not the most painful experience of my life," he muttered, stretching his limbs, shaking off the lingering phantom pain of being burned alive.

[Mind Prison: Memory Absorption Contract (100% Complete)]

[View Memory?] [Yes] [No]

"Yes," Lucian smirked, selecting the option. The mindscape reformed, reshaping itself into the throne room once more.

There, two familiar figures came into view: the new Dark Lord he’d met before, seated atop the throne, and the crimson assassin he’d just fought, kneeling at the center.

"I see... so this was his plan," Lucian murmured, tilting his head as the pieces began fitting together.

The Dark Lord shifted, resting his head lazily on one hand, posture bored.

"Infiltrate the Blood Society guild," he said. "I heard they were hired for quite a magnificent hunt in that pathetic city—Greywood, I think it’s called?"

He chuckled darkly.

"I want you to help them. Just use any disguise you can."

With a casual wave of his hand, the memory began dissolving again. The mindscape melted into darkness, signaling the end of the absorption.

"So the one who planned this hit was a guild called Blood Society... and the Dark Lord planted a spy in it?" Lucian frowned.

"But if that’s the case... it still doesn’t explain how that assassin knew me."

He touched a finger to his lips. The knowledge wasn’t crucial to his main goal—but it left a bitter taste.

"Well... at least I’ve got enough information to report back to the Third Prince."

He snapped his fingers.

The darkness of the dreamscape surged forward, swallowing him whole as he returned to the waking world.

Yet one thought lingered in his mind.

Where the hell was Reid the whole time this attack happened?