The Genius Villain Dies Tomorrow

Even without light, her danger sense was so accurate that she could practically sense them in the dark.

Monsters with short statures and relatively weak strength. However, when in groups, they become terrifying due to their intelligence and have claimed many lives before.

Goblins.

Although that could only be said for novice adventurers, knights, and mages. For someone like Alicia, who had been training for pretty much her entire life...

It was a cakewalk.

Alicia dashed through the shadows with a speed faster than Rian could even keep up. And apparently, it was the same for the goblins. Their eyes widened, frantic as they tried to locate the maid that was just in the light prior.

However, by the time one of them found a shade, its vision suddenly tilted as its head was completely sliced off clean. And before any of its friends could react, the figure was already gone.

Alicia had counted them all out, eight in total. Actually, seven now that she had disposed of one herself. The only thing she was worried about was that her Young Master was the obvious weak link.

So the only solution was to kill them all quickly before that realization ever happened.

The second goblin never even saw her coming, just like the first. A dagger entered beneath its jaw, piercing straight through the skull before she ripped it free and moved on.

’Six.’

An arrow whistled through the darkness, but all Alicia did was tilt her head slightly. It passed harmlessly beside her as she pounced on the archer and ended it.

’Five.’

"GRAAAAK!"

One screamed in its language, finally realizing what was happening. Two went for Alicia while the others...well, the others found out about the guy holding the lantern.

Three suddenly rushed out of the darkness and toward the only other source of light in the chamber.

"Oh, come on," Rian sighed.

Alicia’s eyes widened at the three oncoming goblins, but she knew that if she left the other two, they would become a huge problem. So with a single chant, she uttered a spell that ended them both.

〈Ars Shade — Dolche.〉

[Daggers of Darkness]

The shadows suddenly emerged, looking like a hand holding an extremely sharp blade. With just a flick of her fingers, the blade swept through both goblins at once.

It shouldn’t have been physical, yet a thin red line suddenly spread across their throats, causing them both to collapse on the floor, completely lifeless.

But the fight was not over yet. Alicia turned as soon as she could, blades ready to go save her Young Master from peril. Though before she could take a step, Rian already had his hand outstretched.

And as she read his lips, Alicia realized what he had just done.

"Ars Flare."

A brilliant blaze of red burst through the cave like a dragon’s breath. It consumed the goblins at once, and by the time the cavern cleared up, there were only three charred bodies to show for it.

"..."

[Estimated Lifespan: 19 hours, 10 minutes]

’Damn it, more than 20 minutes for just a single [Ars Flare]?! I really have to be extremely cautious...’

Rian slowly lowered his hand, the frowning expression on his face not matching what he had just done to the poor monsters that were trying to attack him.

Alicia had made her way back, sheathing both daggers on hilts hidden beneath the hem of her skirt. "Young Master, I thought you said you couldn’t protect yourself..."

"Well...I didn’t expect the spell to be that strong," Rian admitted openly, holding back the grin about to form on his face.

But instead of lingering on his small victory, Rian decided to change the subject. "Goblins, huh? Seems like I was right about monsters making their home in this forgotten area."

His maid simply sighed, already accepting that she would be dragged along for the ride. "But how did they get in here in the first place?"

"Well, the entrance to this place is actually slightly ajar," he answered quickly. "Rotten mana ends up inside and eventually made these things."

Alicia simply eyed Rian, tilting her head in confusion. "Young Master...how do you know that?"

"Ahh, well, I had a lot of time on my hands," Rian looked away, avoiding eye contact. "You know how many books I read a day..."

She didn’t look too convinced with the explanation, but decided to gloss over it for now to not waste any more time.

"Young Master," Alicia asked as they continued walking toward the entrance. "Do you think maybe...there are other monsters?"

"Definitely," Rian nodded. "Actually, there’s a reason why the goblins were only at the entrance."

"Why?"

"Because something stronger made its lair inside, pushing the goblins out."

The further they walked, the more this hypothesis was proven correct. Both Rian and Alicia had made their way through the entrance area of the temple, where mass prayers happened.

Yet, there simply were no goblins in sight. Well, anything in sight for that matter. Which...wasn’t foreboding at all.

But just as Rian took another step toward the double doors that were presumably heading towards the basement, Alicia suddenly stopped him.

"Young Master. I can smell blood. It’s coming from the second floor of the basement."

’What the...can she actually smell blood from that far away? What the hell has she been doing all this time to develop such a skill?’

Still, Rian took her warning seriously, stepping back from the doors. Around twenty minutes had passed since they explored the place, and Rian was already feeling his body growing weaker.

Well, she had been partially wrong, as there was literally a goblin corpse just at the base of the doorway.

And unlike the ones behind them, this one had been dead for at least several days. Maybe even weeks, judging from how much flesh was left on bone.

Four deep grooves ran straight across its torso, well, whatever remained on its chest that could be seen. Alicia touched the edge of the wound.

"...Claws."

As Alicia inspected the corpse, Rian suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He had been so close to death that any threat of it had become like a "sixth sense" to him.

And right now...he felt like he was going to die from above.

"Alicia, watch out!" Rian suddenly screamed as he tackled her from the corpse.

Unfortunately, his instincts were right on the money.

CRASHHHHH—!

Just a second later, a large shadow landed onto the ground from above, growling desperately like it hadn’t eaten in days.

Its back was hunched low as four hairless legs stood upright. Its eyes and teeth glowed a fluorescent green as its body was just barely distinguishable from the shadows behind it.

Alicia’s eyes widened, instantly recognizing what the monster was as well as realizing who was the culprit behind the goblin’s corpses.

"A Shadowhound..."

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