I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 216: A Violent Interrogation

Julius slammed his foot into the ground, skidding to a halt the moment he saw me.

His face was smeared with grime, his expression a strange mix of forced confidence and raw, unfiltered terror.

"W-What are you doing here!?" Julius demanded, cutting the air with a sharp wave of his hand.

"I could ask you the same thing!"

BOOM!

Julius’s head snapped toward the shattered gate as the explosion echoed through the area.

"Get away, now!"

[Light Guardian]

His halo and wings erupted in a rush, forming incompletely as he chose speed over stability. Whatever he sensed, it was lethal.

FIZZLE!

Julius twisted his body aside just as something entered the radius of his spell, the searing rays of light burning it away like flesh under a scorching sun.

But whatever was being burned alive... didn’t seem to care.

BOOM!

Another explosion went off, this time from the tree behind Julius. It was like a massive truck had slammed into it, and the blast hurled him in the opposite direction.

[Dark Step]

I teleported behind him before he could crash into a pile of rocks, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him upright.

"What the hell is going on!?"

"J-Just keep your guard up... we’re dealing with something that erases memory..."

His words stopped me cold.

Erases memory? How could he possibly know that? I mean, I know it does that—but how does Julius know?

"What!? How do you know that!?"

"This isn’t the time to explain! I’ll tell you later—right now, we need to go!"

He seized my sleeve as a surge of magic flooded through both of us. The instant he did, it felt like the invisible creature hunting us sensed it as well.

BADUMP!

Our instincts screamed, but before it could reach us—

[Light Transfer]

ZIP!

We were ripped away and dropped into a narrow alley near the edge of the outer district—the farthest Julius could take us, and mercifully empty of people.

But that still wasn’t enough for him.

THUD!

Julius tightened his grip on my sleeve and slammed me against a concrete wall, his [Light Sword] pressed to my throat.

"You knew about that place, didn’t you!?"

His voice was harsh, accusing. He must’ve seen the panic and desperation on my face in that brief moment our eyes met—and that alone was enough for him to think I was involved.

"Fine. I did."

I answered flatly, then grabbed the blade of his sword and drove my foot into his abdomen, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.

"Now you’re going to tell me what the hell you were doing there."

"That’s beside the point. You clearly knew that place existed—and whatever lived in it," Julius spat. "Why the hell didn’t you tell us!?"

[Black Flame Manipulation]

My flames devoured his sword, and I seized him by the collar with both hands, hauling him off the ground and slamming him even harder against the wall.

Normally, I wouldn’t get this physical if I wanted information. But he was the one who pointed a sword at me first. Paying him back felt only fair.

THUD!

I hurled him across the ground. Before he could get up, I pinned him there with my foot.

"Tell me. Why were you there?"

I asked again, voice low.

Julius tried to slip free, but my strength held him down. Every time I felt magic stir in the air, I pressed harder, using pain to break his concentration before he could cast anything. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"L-Lillian asked me to investigate, okay!?"

He gasped, clutching at my leg with both hands, trying to ease the pressure.

Lillian sent him to check on the mining company?

Good enough, I guess...

"And then?"

"T-There was a hole... I checked it out with a team and got attacked, but I resisted the memory erasure long enough to teleport away."

I ground my heel in deeper.

"And?"

"A-And I accidentally teleported it with me when it grabbed my foot at the last second!"

I lifted my foot as soon as I had my answer.

So that’s what started all of this.

Julius sat up as soon as he could breathe again, one hand pressed to his chest as he healed himself, like he’d just had a mountain dropped on him.

"But... while we were fighting it above ground, it suddenly acted weird, like it sensed a threat or something. It got stronger... and took out everyone I brought to investigate..." he muttered.

Weird behavior? Definitely had to do with my spell...

As for his strange confrontational attitude with me... that was likely from watching his comrades die.

So my theory was right. All of this was just a string of unfortunate coincidences.

But now I had another question.

I could block its memory erasure with black flames and the serpent’s amulet. What was Julius’s excuse for being immune to it, just like me?

"You said it erases memory, how can you still remember?"

I asked him, still looming over him but no longer pinning him down. I knew full well I couldn’t take it down myself anyways.

The last thing I needed was to alienate a possible ally. Even if Julius was the last person I wanted help from, he was still the strongest one available at the moment.

I’d already gotten my revenge by kicking him in the abdomen and hurling him across the ground—no need to stay aggressive.

Besides... for now, we were probably the only two people who could reasonably match its memory-erasing abilities.

"I can’t tell you that..." Julius muttered, refusing to meet my eyes.

Typical.

[Photographic Memory]

I searched the novel for possible explanations, but nothing showed up. Or at least... nothing that was directly related to his immunity.

"Look," he said, taking a breath, "I know we got off on the wrong foot. And I still don’t know what you know about that place or... thing, but I want you to help me—"

"Oh, shut up. Of course I’m helping you," I cut him off before he could finish.

"H-Huh...?"

He froze for a moment, clearly surprised by how easily I agreed.

"R-Really?"

"Do I look like someone who’d want a memory-erasing invisible beast roaming around?"

I shot back, raising an eyebrow at him.