When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 72

When Argo was first formed, they had less than ten members at first. And at least one or two people died or entered in a day, so there were many changes.

Of the founding members, only three of them survived without dying. Atalante, who’d first created Argo, as well as Jenna and Devon, the twin siblings that lived with her since childhood.

Before Argo turned into a full-fledged criminal organisation, they once worked as mercenaries.

Although they’d also committed minor offences like pickpocketing, those that stole from the slums were considered bad.

In any case, there was overflowing work and considerably high pay. Because there was war constantly occurring around the place they lived at.

However, if one had to point out a disadvantage, wouldn’t it be the fact that you’d have to risk your life for every request?

On that day, it was Devon’s first time on the battlefield. Although he had an extraordinary talent for making weapons, his physical ability was less than half of Jenna’s, his twin sister’s.

He was only mobilised for this request due to a severe shortage of manpower.

Even if he was holding the finest sword, Devon couldn’t even kill an ant on that day.

When he sensed danger, the enemy’s sword was already approaching unavoidably.

To make matters worse, he, who was flustered, had even lost the weapon he was carrying.

“It’s X.”

Just as he was about to leave such ridiculous last words behind before departing the land of the living, the knight holding a sword suddenly collapsed in front of him.

Afterwards, a slender silhouette with short red hair appeared.

“…Atalante.”

“Tsk, you definitely shouldn’t be mobilised in the future, no matter how much we’re lacking in manpower.”

As she said that, Atalante ended three more enemies who were rushing at them.

“I’ll clear a path for you, so evacuate. Can you run?”

Devon nodded quickly. He can’t afford to put her in danger by continuing to act foolishly.

“Good.”

Atalante, who smiled slowly, swung her knife lightly, flicking the blood off her blade.

She looked relaxed, like she was an experienced general.

‘A little girl that doesn’t have much power…’

Atalante aimed for her opponent’s vital points skillfully, and the large knights that stood before her disappeared with each swing of her knife.

“Now!”

As soon as Atalante shouted, Devon ran towards the barracks.

He vowed to produce a decent long-range weapon as soon as possible.

It wasn’t just for Devon himself, but also to extend the lifespan of Argo’s members.

After confirming that Devon had left the thick of the battle, Atalante sighed lightly.

“Jenna! I’ll finish up the remaining ones. Bring the family members that are alive back to the barracks!”

“Alright, Boss!”

“…I already told you not to call me that.”

Whenever she heard that word, her face burned and it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

But as usual, Jenna didn’t consider the feelings of Atalante, who was called Boss.

As if to prove that right, Jenna, who shouted “The boss is telling you to go back,” brought the members of their family with her and disappeared from the battlefield.

‘There’s around 13 people? Let’s not kill them if possible, and overpower them instead.’

After scanning the enemy’s camp, Atalante picked up a sword that had lost its owner and quickly dealt with the remaining enemies.

After thinking that she’d dealt with it to a certain degree, a bone-chilling cry rang out from behind her.

It was an eerie sound that wasn’t from a human, much less to an animal.

Atalante, who turned around to check the source of the sound, stiffened in place.

“W, what is that?”

“Monster…! It’s a monster!”

It was just as the enemies who were still alive had said. That ‘something’ was as big as a house, and so dark that it was hard to recognize its shape, but maybe…….

“Demon?”

It was a famous anecdote that in the distant past, Imperial Princess Ariadna sealed all the demons in the west’s Black Land.

Atalante had never seen one in person either, but… Even so, she was certain.

That horrible thing was clearly a demon.

Whenever the newly formed demon made grotesque howls, the soldiers beside her collapsed miserably.

She wanted to use her knife, but Atalante could only stare at the approaching demon in the face of its overwhelming momentum,

Although Atalante was called a monster by humans, what could she do in the face of a real monster?

The thought of closing her eyes peacefully like this reared its head. ‘It’s fine to do that, isn’t it,’ she thought.

But at that moment, Atalante recalled the Argo family members’ faces as they fell asleep together yesterday.

Along with Devon and Jenna, there were only five people in her family that survived today’s fight. If she died here, there’s no one that’ll protect them.

If she didn’t want to die, kill them first, and if she didn’t want to be bullied by a villain, she had to become a villain that’s more powerful than them, in this bloody world.

If she didn’t want to lose her life to the demon, she had to become an existence that’s more terrible than the demon.

That was the only thing that a girl, who had not properly felt the warmth of the world, had to follow through till the end.

‘Right, I can’t die here.’

Atalante, who fixed her grip on the knife, slowly approached the demon. Although she didn’t know where to stab in order to damage it, she just aimed for its neck first.

At that moment, a terrible, scratching sound echoed in her ear.

“…me.”

“Demons can speak human language?”

The bewildered Atalante stopped in place and looked up at the eerily shining purple pupils of the demon.

“Please, kill me.”

The demon that spoke nonsensical words approached her with a lowered head. As soon as Atalante felt that the movement seemed pitiful inadvertently, a ticklish sunlight filled her vision.

‘Wait a minute, sunlight?’

The sun had already set a long time ago, and no matter how she thought about it, it was strange for such brilliant sunlight to fill her vision.

At that thought, Atalante opened her eyes immediately, and could recognise that the scene she’d been watching was just a dream.

With a low sigh, she closed her eyelids, which felt heavy with fatigue.

‘What happened next, did I kill that demon?’

She couldn’t remember clearly how it ended. The important thing was that she survived there.

‘If it wasn’t for Mia, it would have been a disaster.’

The next day, Mia, a resident of a nearby village, found and treated Atalante, who’d collapsed at the battlefield, and became a new family member of Argo from that day onwards.

In fact, Atalante didn’t have any intention of accepting Mia into the organisation. There’s no reason to pull a girl, who could’ve led a normal life in the village, into a mercenary group.

But Mia was more determined than Atalante.

“Perhaps Miss Atalante can’t remember, but you’d saved my life before.”

“I don’t remember at all, so you should forget about it, too. And return back to your village. Why would a kid, who could live a normal life, want to lead a vagrant life with lowborns?”

“…There’s nowhere I can go even if I return back to the village. My parents died in the war, and all my friends…… Please take me along with you. Ah! My parents were herbalists. Though it’s just a little bit, I can also do some simple treatments, so it’ll be useful if you bring me along!”

After pleading, Mia became a new member of Argo’s family, survived until now and became one of the executives.

Thanks to the strange dream she had, Atalante thought of old memories after a long while, which caused her lips to curve slightly before disappearing.

‘And the last of them that I’d met was Yuffie…’

However, Atalante couldn’t continue recalling the past.

It was because she belatedly realised where she was lying down.

Atalante got married yesterday. And to the man she tried to assassinate at that.

As Atalante recalled the busy preparations for the ceremony, the kiss, and the conversation she had with him in the bedroom, her face gradually warmed.

And the place she was opening her eyes to was definitely…

“You’re up early.”

There was a pleasant voice that came from an overly close position.

Startled, Atalante looked over at the sound’s origin with murderous intent.

And she immediately realised. That it was an obvious mistake of her to turn her head and face him. And also, whose arm she was resting her head on right now.

“Good morning, my wife.”

Atalante, Lionel added her name with a languid smile.

Her eyes, which had been adjusting to the sunlight to some extent, immediately turned cold.

She felt rather dissatisfied at how his face could look like that despite waking up just a few moments ago.

Atalante, who blinked slowly to adapt to his radiant face, inquired interrogatively.

“Can you explain why I am using the Grand Duke’s arm as a pillow? I’d definitely fallen asleep with my back against you.”

Lionel looked curiously at her, who did not rise other than giving him a discontented gaze, for a moment before narrowing his distance from Atalante and whispering.

“Well, I suppose it’s a coincidence.”

As soon as he finished answering, a formidable energy filled Atalante’s eyes.

‘A gap!’

Just like an arrowhead that has captured its target, Atalante climbed above him and leaned down towards his left cheek immediately.

Of course, she didn’t close her eyes foolishly like she’d done yesterday.

Although it’s ridiculous that she thought of completing the crude ‘custom’ the moment she opened her eyes, she wanted to take care of it quickly.

She didn’t want to give him something to tease her about, and… It was because she was afraid that this act would be deeply meaningful one day.

But she still failed this challenge again. She’d thought that she was second to none in terms of explosive power, but Lionel was an exception.

Just before she touched his cheek, Lionel gently held Atalante’s cheeks and looked at her with astonished eyes.

“Oh, my, have you fallen for me already?”

“No! It’s not like that, it’s custom……!”

“Haha. Truly, the more I look at you, my wife, the cuter I find you.”

“Cuter… What?”

Upon hearing a strange modifier that didn’t match her at all, Atalante’s face turned as cold as ice.

But the colder her expression became, the curve drawn by Lionel’s lips grew wider.

“Forget it, let go of me. I want to hurry up and finish it.”

“I’d be rather upset if you think of it as work. I told you, take this challenge relaxedly.”

The rather unhurried Lionel took his hand off her cheek for a while, and even used his finger to draw the word ‘relax’ on Atalante’s cheeks.

She’d wanted to take that opportunity to lower her head, but she was once again blocked by Lionel’s hand.

Atalante, who made a strange sound, finally raised her voice.

“Stop joking around with me! I want to do it right now, so let go of me!”

As soon as she shouted back, she sensed a presence behind her. Three red-faced maids and Paul had been awkwardly rooted to the ground in front of the bedroom door for an unknown period of time.

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