I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain-Chapter 453

"No. It's not like that." Ian started to protest. "Whatever you're misunderstanding—"

Lucia gasped, as if she didn't need to hear anymore. "So it's true! Oh, my gosh. I really had no idea. Not even in my wildest dreams!"

Her lips curved into a smile, but Ian ignored its meaning. "Honestly, it's just one surprise after another. Things I never would have believed if I hadn't seen them myself!"

About to deny it again, Ian finally just pursed his lips.

Did she really have to be this perceptive about this?

Rumble...

It was then that a faint tremor spread through the area. Startled, Ian's head snapped around, his brow furrowing.

"This dream world's going to collapse at this rate. Why are you guys acting like that?" Yog asked, blinking slowly.

Ian's frown deepened. Yog’s words made him realize that the tremor was a sign he was about to wake from the dream. He glanced at the others chatting, seemingly oblivious to the tremor. Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Yog turned back to Lucia and added, "It’s only a change of the face, so why are you so shocked, and why is our friend here so flustered? It's just a dream, right? Stuff like this is no big deal. Look at me."

Lucia looked at him in disbelief. "Oh, my god... Are you serious, Yog?" she asked.

Yog immediately shrugged. "I'm always serious, Lucy."

Lucia shook her head gently. "If you noticed Sir Ian was flustered but still don't understand, then you're not ready to know yet, Yog."

Then she added, as if explaining to a child, "I'm sorry, but I can't be the one to tell you. That would be too rude of me."

Ignoring Yog, who tilted its head in confusion, Lucia turned back to face forward. "So when did it start, Sir Ian?" She leaned forward, lowering her voice.

Ian opened his eyes again and let out a soft sigh.

Lucia met his gaze. Her eyes were shining with a determination that showed she wouldn't just let this go. A smile still lingered on her lips. "Does my sister know, too? She... never mentioned anything to me."

At last, Ian answered in a low voice. "...No."

Answering this felt harder than admitting he was from another world. "I haven't known for very long myself."

Lucia nodded, her smile deepening. "I see... Just as I thought. Well, that's one more reason you absolutely have to return safely. When you see her again, you'll need to tell her how you feel."

"No." Ian replied. "I don't plan on it, Lucy."

Lucia’s smile froze on her face.

Blinking her wide eyes, she quickly added, "No, why not? Are you perhaps worried about being rejected? That's not at all... no."

Realizing she'd almost misspoke, Lucia shook her head. She took a deep breath through her nose and looked Ian straight in the eye again. "I think you need to tell her. I'll help if there’s anything I can do. Anything at all. So—"

Ian cut her off. "Doing nothing is helping."

Lucia paused, blinking.

He stared steadily into her eyes for a moment.

Without any change in expression, he continued, "Let's stop talking about this. It would be even better if you could just pretend it never happened."

"But..."

"We're going to wake up from this dream soon. Don't we still have things to discuss?"

"Alright." After opening and closing her mouth a few times, Lucia finally nodded, unable to hide the questions and disappointment filling her eyes.

However, Ian truly had no intention of saying more on the matter. It was something he had already come to a conclusion about long ago—at least in his mind.

Ian turned to Yog. "I think it's about time we get to the main point."

Yog, who had been leaning back nonchalantly with its arms behind its head, immediately nodded. "Glad to hear it, my friend."

Ian added bluntly, "My guess is that we've fallen into a rift between worlds."

Lucia, who seemed to have much more to say, snapped her gaze back toward him.

Yog readily nodded again. "I was thinking something similar. The surface must have torn, and we fell through."

Lucia added cautiously, "So... are you saying we've fallen into purgatory?"

Yog placed the straw back in its mouth and smiled. "You could call it that. A shadow of your world. A space where torn and broken fragments and all sorts of remnants collect. I know quite a bit now, don't I?"

Despite the content, its tone was beyond casual;it was almost cheerful.

As Lucia sighed softly watching Yog bob the straw up and down, Ian asked again. "Then, can we just leave through the same hole we came in?" His voice was as calm and steady as his expression.

Yog shrugged. "Who knows? The collapsed space has likely almost returned to its original form. The world tends to heal itself, you know. At least, until it reaches its limit. Otherwise, your world would have become the void long ago. Probably..."

It pinched its thumb and forefinger almost together. "Only a tiny scar remains."

"A rift..." Lucia murmured, having listened blankly.

As Yog glanced at her, she moved her lips. "The rifts we've been seeing... those are the scars, aren't they."

"The demonic realm is already a distorted world, so it can't return completely to its original form," Yog replied, tapping its straw, then looking back at Ian. "Thanks to that, well, the question of what happens when you enter a rift is answered."

"As you know from experience, walking out of a rift would be nearly impossible, even for you. Besides, it would be difficult just to find the same rift again."

"A world full of fragments and remnants can't possibly be stable, right? It's probably an unbelievable mess."

Ian's eyes narrowed instinctively.

It was some comfort knowing the group likely hadn't been scattered far apart. If they had been separated, they wouldn't have been able to connect like this through the conscious realm.

"So, what's the plan? You said you had an idea."

"Hmm?" At the added words, Yog's eyes narrowed slightly.

The purple eyes of the entity tapping its straw curved faintly. "I didn't expect you to get stuck here. Well, I suppose even you can't figure everything out immediately."

"Right. Though we could always have a physical conversation," Ian said, standing.

Yog quickly held out both hands. "Let me have my little bit of fun, Friend. It's not an opportunity that comes often, especially not with me holding the key. Right?"

It was so brazen about it that Ian actually paused.

As Ian raised an eyebrow slightly, Yog added magnanimously, "There's another prisoner stuck in the corner of that little prison of yours, Friend. The one that stays quiet and hardly moves."

"Are you talking about the dark artifact?" Ian asked back, his brow finally twitching slightly.

He immediately thought of the Skull of the Rift Walker, the dark artifact he'd obtained after killing the Vampire Empress.

It was the only item he had that seemed related to the rift.

"A dark... artifact?" Lucia asked, as if wondering what on earth Ian was talking about now. In contrast, Yog grinned, showing its teeth, and gave a slight tilt of its head.

Ian immediately added, "But that should only let me send out my consciousness."

"As you know, that being was born from the world's shadow," Yog shrugged as if it were obvious. "If it only allowed peeking, how could it have ended up in your hands?"

"Are you saying it can create a passage to the outside?"

"If I act as a catalyst and properly awaken the power contained within it. With the chaos you currently hold, it should be quite possible. Probably."

Ian's brow furrowed automatically. "So you're not sure. Again."

"Of course not. It's my first time trying this too. We might end up somewhere completely different, or maybe we won't all make it out together. We might even fail to open the passage at all, naturally."

Ian kept his frown fixed, staring intently into Yog's purple eyes. This meant he'd have to bet his own life, and everyone else's, on this damn snake.

"Is there any other way?"

"Hmm... well, as you know. You could probably leave the same way the other things do."

"The Black Wall?" Lucia added cautiously.

Hadn't they deduced that the things the Wall spat out during moments of erosion were monsters that had been consumed by madness and walked into the darkness beyond the border or into the rifts?

"So the Black Wall really doesn't just separate this side from that side, but also connects to the rift... No... maybe it's the other way around," Lucia murmured blankly as Yog shrugged, then Lucia's eyes suddenly shot wide open.

"Too much has piled up in the rift. The remnants from countless wars and the fights between transcendents, and the scars carved into the world... So much that Purgatory can no longer contain it all... So it's spilling back into the material plane?" Lucia muttered disconnectedly, apparently struck by a completely new theory.

Of course, Ian had no interest whatsoever in the Black Wall's true nature.

"That won't work," he simply concluded firmly. They couldn't wait until the Wall began its Encroachment again. There was no guarantee they could hold out that long or cross safely even if they did.

"Or, well, we could just wait here until our souls empty out completely. It'll be painless. Besides me and maybe you, the others probably won't even regain consciousness. They'll die happily in their dreams," Yog's relaxed voice continued, its tone already knowing Ian would never make that choice.

"So, what I think is..." Yog looked at Ian's cold face and spat out the straw it had been holding in its mouth.

Then, resting its arm on its thigh, it leaned forward. "Now seems like the time you need to trust me a little more, Friend. Because I think that's going to make a big difference in whether this works or not. After all, I need to borrow your power."

Ian met Yog's purple eyes steadily. They still glinted annoyingly, but at least he didn't sense any malice from it.

"...Right. I guess you're aware," Ian finally said with a low chuckle. Picking up the cup, its ice now almost completely melted, he gave a nod. "If this isn't successful, this subspace becomes your Purgatory."

"Of course. Besides, I like Lucy too. Enough not to want to part ways in a place like this, at least."

"Alright. Let's do it that way, then," Ian replied, putting the straw in his mouth and turning to Lucia. "You finish eating too."

"Right now? In this situation?" Lucia asked back, sounding dumbfounded.

Ian shrugged. "I don't know if you'll be able to remember this moment. But if you do, there will definitely come a time when you regret leaving things behind."

Lucia instinctively glanced down at the table, then eventually picked up her fork again.

"I can't argue with that. Okay." She took a big bite of the waffle, which had gotten soggy from the melted ice cream.

Ian slowly sipped his remaining coffee, watching her quietly. Truthfully, he wanted to watch this scene just a little longer.

It wasn't long before Lucia spoke up bluntly, "There's another reason, isn't there?"

"What reason?"

"The reason you won't tell her how you feel. I won't ask again once we get out of here. Besides, as you said, I might not even remember this moment anyway," Lucia added with a sweet smile.

Ian didn't answer. He just put his cup down with a faint, bitter smile playing on his lips.

Watching him intently, Lucia's eyes suddenly widened as if she'd realized something.

"...You're planning to go back there, aren't you?"

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