I Will Fulfill the Role of the Villain-Chapter 164

As expected, what Felix had inscribed on the ground was a binding circle. That was only natural for him. There was no reason for someone with such weak base ability to not use his specialty, summoning magic.

The circle suddenly began to surge violently, and the ground trembled as if struck by an earthquake. The knights who hadn’t lost consciousness yet looked around in confusion. Luke took a step back from Felix.

He stared at his right hand gripping the spear. He had used large-scale mana earlier to deal with the knights, but the black mana itself didn’t seem to have spread too widely. Still, that didn’t mean he could let his guard down.

BOOOOOM—!

To deal with the massive monster that had been summoned by that circle, magic use would be unavoidable. A colossal form appeared, so large it blocked out the moonlight reflecting on the ground. It was like staring at a giant caterpillar.

Its thick, writhing body closely resembled a caterpillar. But unlike an ordinary insect, this one had a huge hollow cavity for a mouth, packed with thousands of teeth. If anyone were bitten, their body would be shredded into ribbons.

“So, this is the difference a boss makes.”

The aura alone was on a completely different scale than the monsters summoned by Benjie or Hays. In sync with that, the pain in Luke’s right hand started to intensify.

“No matter how powerful you are as a mage, this won’t be easy.”

A voice dropped from above. Looking up, Luke saw Felix sitting atop the monster’s head, looking down. The odd part was that he had his palm pressed against the creature’s head—and from that point of contact, a familiar black pillar extended. It writhed just like the lines of the summoning circle Luke had seen in the secret room.

Now that he had a rough grasp of the monster’s structure, Luke shifted his grip on the spear and lunged. The spear tip, reinforced with ice crystals, plunged into the creature’s hide—but the ice shattered instantly, and the spear blade broke apart. Its body was too tough to be pierced by ordinary weapons.

“If you kneel before me now, I’ll at least spare your life.”

“No need.”

Without even a second’s hesitation, Luke replied flatly. Felix clicked his tongue harshly and clenched his hand—at that, the monster began to move. It pressed its body flat against the ground and started slithering grotesquely across the dirt, like a broom sweeping the floor with its thick, wriggling mass.

Rocks and dust scattered everywhere. Luke dodged and weaved to avoid the monster’s merciless ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) sweeping attacks. But he wasn’t the only one still here. The Welharun knights immobilized by his earlier attack were still in the area.

“You planning to kill your own men too?!”

Luke shouted sharply. Felix must have heard him, but didn’t stop the monster. To him, even the Welharun knights were nothing but disposable tools.

“Uagh!”

“G-get back!”

“Run!”

The knights fell into a panic at the sudden appearance of the monster. They too had been completely deceived by Felix—no, by the man they believed to be Prince Heath.

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue, Luke changed course sharply. He chose the thickest, largest tree among the surrounding forest and placed his hand on it. As he slowly poured mana into it, thick roots and branches burst forth and moved according to his will.

Dozens of branching roots reached out beneath the rampaging monster and wrapped around the knights, pulling them out of harm’s way.

Only after confirming that no knights remained near Felix’s position did Luke release the tree. Just as he turned to charge again, a hand suddenly flew at him from the side.

“What is it?”

It was the knight commander who had earlier accused Luke of blasphemy with such righteous fury. Now, with a confused expression, he grabbed Luke’s wrist and opened his mouth hesitantly.

“W-what the hell is this...”

The commander looked back and forth between Luke and Felix, who was controlling the monster. Of course he was confused—the prince they served was shouting like a different man and summoning monsters, not even caring about the knights’ safety.

“There’s no time to explain. See it for yourself and judge.”

With that, Luke shook off the commander’s hand and launched himself forward. As he placed his hand on the ground, ice spears erupted upward around the monster. But they shattered instantly against its tough body.

Luke frowned in dissatisfaction and once again poured in a massive surge of mana. This time, the spears formed were much denser and sharper—one of them successfully pierced the monster’s neck.

Its pained, roaring cry was deafening. Ignoring the faint sensation in his right hand, Luke dashed straight toward the beast.

But then, with a violent howl, the monster reared its entire body upward. The ice spears binding it broke apart with ease.

What followed was a fierce battle. Luke poured spell after spell to suppress the monster’s movements while dodging its wild attacks. But none of it worked—its strength and resilience rendered everything useless. Techniques that should have succeeded were easily countered.

“Haah... haah...”

Luke breathed heavily and looked down at his right hand. The problem lay there. The corrupted mana was spreading further and interfering with his ability to channel his innate magic. At best, he could probably use about half of his original power now.

He had to buy time—but dragging this into a long fight would only put him at a greater disadvantage. As the black mana spread, his spells would weaken, and even his own body might start to collapse. If he lost consciousness here, Felix would escape for sure.

“Tired already?”

Felix mocked as he tightened his grip on the monster’s head. The black line connecting him to the beast grew taut, and the monster charged straight at Luke.

“Shit...”

A monster this huge shouldn't be this fast—it was absurd. In a blink, all he could see were the creature’s thousands of twitching teeth rushing at him, aiming to rip him to shreds.

Fortunately, Luke managed to leap backward at the last second. But the shockwave from the monster slamming into the ground sent him flying.

CRASH—!

Luke’s body slammed into the back gate of the palace with a thunderous impact that split the air.

“Gah...!”

Blood splattered from his mouth and hit the ground.

“Hah.”

Wiping his lips, Luke glanced at the gaping hole now punched into the wall from the crash.

“Trying to run? Why bother? You look like you’re about to collapse. I’m sure I’ll catch you soon.”

The monster slowly slithered closer. From atop it, Felix looked down at Luke, who was clearly exhausted.

Luke opened his palm, conjuring a long ice spear. He judged the distance carefully, then hurled it into the air.

The spear shot through the air in a graceful arc. But it seemed to veer far from the monster’s body, and Felix scoffed derisively.

“Even your aim is going to shit—”

His words froze mid-sentence, and his eyes widened. The spear he thought was aimed at the monster was instead flying straight toward him.

“What the—?!”

Before Felix could react, the spear sliced cleanly through the black line connecting him to the monster.

“Guh!”

With the backlash, Felix tumbled off the monster’s head. He reached out to reconnect the pillar of mana—

“Not happening.”

In that exact moment, Luke leapt with all his might and climbed atop the monster’s body. He seized Felix’s hand to stop him—then grabbed him by the throat.

“I’m so damn sick of this summoning crap. It’s basically cheating to control monsters like this at will, don’t you think?”

Felix glared at Luke with a deep scowl.

“You know something? No matter how powerful or perfect a spell looks, it always has a fatal weakness.”

Even as he spoke, the monster thrashed violently. It had likely realized Luke was now on top of it. It tried desperately to throw him off—but what was clear was that its speed and force no longer matched what it had displayed at the start.

“The weakness... is always the caster.”

“......”

“You’ve been feeding mana to the monster this whole time to boost its power, haven’t you?”

The black pillar had served as a mana conduit, making the monster far stronger than it originally was. But that meant if the caster was neutralized, the problem was solved. No mana supply meant no control—and no more monster.

“You seem to know a lot about summoning.”

Even with Luke’s hand around his neck, Felix sneered.

“Yeah, well. I’ve been through some shit.”

Luke replied indifferently and summoned another ice spear.

“Let’s wrap this up.”

Just as he was about to strike, Felix’s eyes widened—and he stomped hard on the monster’s head. A pulse of energy surged, and the monster roared violently.

As if regaining its strength, it writhed ferociously. Luke lost his footing and stumbled.

“Ah, damn it...!”

Sure enough, Felix used the opening to twist free and grab Luke by the neck, slamming him down with his full weight.

“Just give it up. I might be weakened, but taking you down is still nothing.”

Even though he’d lost the upper hand, Luke stared blankly at Felix now straddling him and smirking.

“Fine. I’ll admit it. There’s a reason the Hainere army is so strong. So then, how about this?”

“What the hell—”

Before Felix could finish speaking, he grabbed Luke’s right hand—and bit down hard. His teeth pierced flesh with brutal force, blood dripping freely.

“Ghh—!”

But that wasn’t all. Around them, black smoke began to rise, slowly being absorbed into Luke’s hand. His breathing grew ragged. The corrupted mana was flooding into his body.

“As long as my mana’s inside you, you’ll never beat me.”

Felix said this as he bit into Luke’s now-pale hand.

“...Hey. Did you know something?”

Just when Felix thought he’d secured his victory, a faint laugh escaped from below. Felix’s shoulder flinched. Luke’s eyes gleamed with madness—his grin sent a chill down the spine.

“I’ve got two hands. Benjie didn’t realize that either. So I taught him.”

Luke raised his left hand high into the sky. In response, dark clouds began to gather in the dim pre-dawn sky.

“Told you, right? Taking you down isn’t even hard for me.”

He snapped his fingers.