I Became the Rich Second-Generation Villain

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Where did the luck come from? To tell the truth, it was Dan Marina’s sharp eye back then. She spotted this quest immediately, giving him the chance to snatch it before anyone else. Those who discovered it later could only watch them enviously. Of course, during this period, Oss had built up a solid reputation in the local Mercenary Guild.

While this quest seemed simple, with generous rewards tempting envy, its subtle connection to the Sanctuary Church ensured no one was jealous enough to start an outright conflict.

Interesting… Disguised, Dan Marina observed the seemingly unchanged environment around her. At least ninety-nine percent looked identical. Yet, even if it were perfectly identical, it couldn’t shield the place from her sight. Everything here had been completely renovated. Every trace that could be wiped away had been erased.

Any normal person would find nothing useful here. But who was she? Even if the concealment were ten times more skillful, it wouldn’t fool her. Unnoticed by others, a hazy, chaotic grey shimmering with starlight flickered deep within Dan Marina’s eyes.

Evil God Rituals… Tsk, tsk, not one, but easily a hundred of them! Only the Sanctuary Church could pull off something like this. Anyone else attempting it, even if all hundred rituals failed, the accumulated external factors would be enough to spawn some warped, indescribable horrors here.

If they had succeeded, performed in an environment saturated with ritual residue from so many Evil God Rituals, the resulting Evil God wouldn’t have been your typical kind. Yet here, the Sanctuary Church seemed to have nurtured an extraordinary Evil God, pure as a lotus growing from sludge… No, no, that could barely be called an Evil God anymore.

Dan Marina wanted to trace events further back, hoping to uncover something unexpectedly new. But the next moment, the unique glow vanished instantly from her eyes. Hmm, someone was observing this place. Powerful. Better lay low for now. She’d found enough clues anyway.

An Evil God born through the Evil God Ritual, using a Dragon Magic Arms… Specifically, the sacred-type Magical Arms – that hammer the little dragon had made recently… The Sanctuary Church had been experimenting with various Magic Arms earlier, uncertain if they could be used to create Evil Gods. If Dan Marina hadn’t escaped the Sanctuary Church’s control, they would definitely have interrogated her. Her answer wouldn’t have been anything else: Absolutely impossible!

Ordinary Magic Arms, whatever their quality, were merely dead objects. But the Magic Arms crafted by Zheng Yichen could be considered ‘alive’. They contained a significant portion of his own Spiritual Power. After all, Magical Arms formed by Magic required Spiritual Power to stabilize their Magical Structures. One embedded spell might not be enough, but each of Zheng Yichen’s weapons contained at least two spells, integrated with the weapon itself. Multiple spells merging into one meant an abundance of Spiritual Power!

Furthermore, as a Magic Arms was continuously enhanced, even the internal Magical Structures grew stronger. If an ordinary person tried this, the internal Mental Energy would fail to match the escalating Magical Structure, causing the entire framework to collapse. Zheng Yichen’s Spiritual Power, however, shared his unique trait. As the Magical Structure strengthened, that anchored Spiritual Power subtly exerted a harmonizing influence, autonomously growing with the structure.

Even if its growth rate lagged behind the accumulation of Mana, the enhancement was exceptionally stable. The stronger it became, the faster its growth accelerated; it never slowed down.

Without exaggeration, the Spiritual Power housed within a single low-tier Magic Arms now surpassed the combined Mental Energy of many ordinary people. Massive Spiritual Power inside a weapon might seem useless at first glance. In reality, this Mental Energy acted as the primary adhesive, binding the Magical Structure together. The structure could only form and hold because of this core of Spiritual Power directing it.

Without Spiritual Power guiding it, how could Mana ever settle into a stable, completed structure? Therefore, as the Spiritual Power within a Magic Arms grew, it simply rendered the weapon’s Magical Structure increasingly resilient. Ultimately, it would evolve to a point where, unless countered by its original creator, no external Spellcaster could shatter it using Anti-Magic means.

Using a knife to slice tofu works because the knife is harder than the tofu? Try cutting titanium alloy with that same knife… Everything is relative. The relationship between a Magical Structure and methods of Anti-Magic follows this principle. Anti-Magic ‘leverages’ a higher coefficient against Magic, requiring less raw power for greater disruptive effect.

The Sanctuary Church sure knew how to stir up trouble… Zheng Yichen once said something during his own experiments, didn’t he? ‘Humans… are creatures uniquely talented at seeking destruction’. Dan Marina couldn’t find fault with that statement. After all, beings like Evil Gods were originally born from Humanity’s destructive impulses. Now, even the Sheng Tang Church, constantly suppressing cults, couldn’t resist diving into the self-destructive temptation themselves.

It spoke volumes about Humanity’s inherent, potent instinct for self-sabotage.

Initially, her interest was only piqued by the existence of the Demon Sword Sect. She had even found a rather unique, somewhat different Demon Sword Cultist, prepared for a slow infiltration to unearth the sect’s secrets… Why not use her Tracing Ability?

The Dan Marina of old would have gladly done so. Now, unless absolutely necessary, she rarely invoked it. Using the Tracing Ability was like skipping to the answers when faced with a problem, or downloading a game’s completed save file – utterly devoid of enjoyment. With time and opportunity, uncovering things step by step was far more interesting. Wasting time?

Sorry, when you’ve lived as long as she had, you really could afford to ‘waste’ time however you pleased!

But before the Demon Sword Sect investigation concluded, a side plot emerged. The Sanctuary Church had also managed to create a peculiar ‘Evil God’ – probably inspired by the Demon Sword Sect. She made a mental note to seek out this unique ‘Evil God’ the Sanctuary Church had tucked away for contact, someday. For now, the Demon Sword Sect remained the priority.

Regarding the Magic Sword Apophis, Dan Marina had long since summoned it and examined it herself. Apart from its internal Magical Structure undergoing a colossal ‘mutation’, deviating completely from the original spellwork, nothing seemed particularly unusual about the sword. Yet, hampered by Zheng Yichen’s unique power trait – which this sword, existing through another peculiar mechanism, inherently possessed – her Tracing Ability remained ineffective.

She had no way to determine what bizarre elements, beyond the structural mutation, now resided within the sword. To figure out what was truly wrong, she’d have to pursue leads within the Demon Sword Sect. She needed a chance to directly confront the Evil God worshiped by the Demon Sword Cultists.

Alternatively… nurture an Evil God herself? The thought struck Dan Marina as an excellent idea. Cultivating Evil Gods? She knew plenty of Witches had done it; even Irene, whom Zheng Yichen had contact with, had tried it!

Irene hadn’t cultivated an Evil God to wreak havoc, but for experimentation purposes. However, the resulting entity fell so short of her expectations she simply discarded it. After all, Evil Gods emerged from specific Evil God Rituals, their powers and abilities inherently random and chaotic. It was like drawing from a card pool: you never knew what you’d get until the draw.

When the gap between reality and her ideal proved too vast, the young Evil God – likely busy scheming to overthrow its Witch creator – found itself abruptly and mercilessly annihilated by Irene herself. Not even ashes remained. It rated as one of the most pitiful Evil Gods Dan Marina knew of… snuffed out less than half a day after seeing the first sunrise.

Its final moments were filled with endless magical experimentation.

Therefore, nurturing an Evil God herself wasn’t unimaginable. Well, an experiment for another time. She had important tasks at hand; no time now. Ah? Wait a moment… Couldn’t the little dragon handle it?

Her outward demeanor mimicked the others earnestly searching the surroundings, but Dan Marina’s mind buzzed with possibilities. Her steps paused ever so slightly as she regarded a particular spot with mild curiosity. Something intriguing lingered there. She didn’t glance towards the person observing her. Whatever residue remained, Dan Marina possessed a hundred ways to spirit it away undetected.

This residue, however, was useless to her. This peculiar ‘Evil God’ obviously had an incredibly specific binding to the Magic Arms. A mere trace of residue held no value. She’d be better off checking the Magical Arms originals with Zheng Yichen; they were infinitely superior to this scrap.

Passing through the location with the ‘residue’, Dan Marina paused there for the briefest instant before moving elsewhere. But the next moment, she emitted a soft “Ouch!”. A stone lay discarded near her foot; stepping on it seemingly twisted her ankle… at least, that’s how it seemed on the surface.

“Hm?” Hearing Dan Marina’s pained cry, Oss immediately headed towards her. As he passed the location where the ‘Evil God’ residue lay hidden, a dim ray of light silently coiled around his ankle from the ground beneath his foot. The process was completely undetectable. Oss’s body gave a tiny, faint tremor. He felt the Bloodline Power within him surge erratically for just a fraction of a second. Upon closer inspection, it felt like an illusion: ”Are you okay? How could you be so careless?”

He was about to help her steady herself. However, before Oss could reach her, Dan Marina, who hadn’t actually fallen, merely frowned slightly. She angrily stomped a foot against the stone that had supposedly caused her to ‘twist’ her ankle. “Stupid stone!”

Sniffing, Dan Marina flashed a ring on her finger. A verdant light shimmered from the ring. The faint swelling visible around her ankle rapidly subsided under the healing magic emanating from the ring, restoring itself instantly.

“Ooh~ Look at the high roller!” A companion standing behind Oss chuckled teasingly, watching Oss awkwardly retract his offered hand for assistance. The companion’s eyes casually drifted to the stone Dan Marina had kicked away – just before she might have stomped on it again: “Hm? Wait, that stone seems… off!”

“Off?” Oss, empty-handed so far, snapped out of his awkwardness upon hearing his companion. His attention shifted fully to the rock. It looked identical to the others, devoid of any discernible magical aura or energy fluctuation.

Yet, under the direct sunlight, faint, nearly imperceptible points of light became visible within it. The effect looked similar to reflection, but such stones shouldn’t reflect light. The reason for this anomaly hadn’t been spotted earlier was because the reflective side had been wedged securely against the ground. Only after Dan Marina kicked it free did this peculiar characteristic become exposed.

“…” Achille, observing Oss and his team from a distance, saw the anomaly despite the separation. He felt a profound wave of irritation wash over him. Was this what the clean-up crew had sworn was spotless? Claiming they’d swept the area eight times?!

Oss and his team’s discovery seemed like pure coincidence resulting from Dan Marina’s kick. Precisely because it was coincidence, it exposed the negligence of the clean-up crew. While only a minor detail, seemingly insignificant…

Nevertheless, since it was found, it couldn’t be ignored. Grabbing it directly wouldn’t do. Achille had a solution. He’d simply wait for Oss and the others to turn it in as evidence with their quest report. Then he, personally, would have a little chat with the quest poster. After all, the poster knew this area had been sealed by the Sanctuary Church and still sent investigators – clearly harboring dubious intentions.

Given that, Achille wouldn’t mind ensuring those individuals received absolutely nothing besides losing their quest deposit.

Oss and his team continued searching for a while longer. Arriving earlier, they had prepared for the long haul, as finding nothing meant the quest couldn’t be completed. Discovering that unusual stone lifted a weight off them regarding the quest itself. The place was too clean; finding that one object was sheer luck. Finding more… Well, perhaps they could rely on Dan Marina throwing another ‘privileged young lady’ tantrum and kicking a few more stones?

They had already flipped over every plausible stone in the vicinity.

“Whew~ It’s getting late. Let’s pitch camp and rest. We’ll explore other sections tomorrow,” Oss suggested, checking the time. Darkness fell faster within the canyon. Their intensive grid search today yielded little progress. Completing a sweep of the entire canyon would take time, area by area.

Meanwhile, in the Underground Base…

“Ugh, this hammer… Why is it changing again?” Zheng Yichen muttered to himself, lightly tossing the Holy Spirit Hammer in his hand. It had recently begun undergoing changes similar to Apophis. It made him wonder if this was a trait shared by High-Level Magic Soldiers. A glance at the Sword of Promised Victory, the second oldest High-Level Magical Arms… revealed no such change thus far. Probably not just a High-Level Magic Arms issue, then.

What exactly was happening? Zheng Yichen couldn’t quite grasp the cause, but he saw no harm in investigating. The changes in the Magic Arms appeared entirely beneficial; spreading those effects more widely could only be advantageous.

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