I'm Not Your Dad, I'm a Villain - Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Truth (1)

It all started with a small fry scattered on the streets.

Just a small fry who mistakenly thought he was the strongest in the world, a frog in a well.

That’s all Gigantes was at one time.

‘Why?’

He realized his insignificance when a woman suddenly appeared in the domain he had occupied.

The man who knew no bounds faced her overwhelming power and finally understood how arrogant and insignificant he truly was.

But it was too late to regret.

This world is survival of the fittest. The defeated must play at the hands of the victor.

‘Why doesn’t she kill me?’

Yet, he considered this as a common sense.

‘Mr. Gigantes. I’m not a mass murderer.’

Contrary to his expectations, she showed him mercy.

In a world where law and morality didn’t apply, she, positioned as the strong, only subdued him, the weak.

‘I am a member of an order that pursues ideals. For me, fighting is not about conquest but a means of proving something… Since your superiority is already proven, further action against you is meaningless to me.’

From her, he felt compassion and broad-mindedness… At that moment, Gigantes realized.

Ah, yes. The sword of a true strong person is formidable, and in its sheathed state, there exists such broad-mindedness.

‘So please, would you allow me to serve under you?’

He found himself captivated by her.

Even if he couldn’t become the best.

Just watching the new world she showed him, being part of her organization, was enough.

Even if the organization collapsed, it was sufficient to admire her dignified figure.

Even with his lacking strength, if he could just uphold the ideals of the organization that captivated him.

***

‘Are you saying you’ll avoid a confrontation with Spiritas?’

But that was a story of the past.

Ironically, in her current state, everything he admired in her had vanished completely.

Her behavior at that time showed that…

It seemed like everything was made possible because she had Ouroboros’s backing.

‘Yes, ironically, a fight with her has nothing to do with my revenge.’

‘But…’

‘And if I attack her, that person might get angry.’

Yet, as if still having lingering feelings, she added someone else’s presence to her intent.

With a face showing both guilt and longing.

‘That person?’

‘Someone who still hopes to belong to the organization. Unlike me.’

He keeps the organization’s ideals and waits for a day to crush the hope of the next generation before the public.

For someone who abandoned those ideals, carrying out that act would be an insult to that person.

Seeing that, Gigantes understood.

She didn’t abandon the organization’s ideals; she was forced to.

As someone who could no longer achieve what she wanted by pursuing ideals, she had to give up many things to fulfill her purpose.

She abandoned mercy, abandoned leisure, and indirectly participated in massacres.

‘Gigantes, I’m sorry for making you bear this responsibility. But I…’

‘You don’t need to apologize.’

But even if she was broken, he didn’t abandon his feelings for her.

Though he could no longer see the figure he once admired…

Those feelings he continued to hold allowed him to exist now.

Because he, a mere small fry, found the ideal in her, he could grow into a great evil that terrified this era.

‘Boss, please achieve your will. I will carry on your unfulfilled ideals.’

So even if she left, his feelings wouldn’t change.

Even if those feelings wouldn’t properly conclude.

He firmly believed those feelings still held meaning.

***

“…Are you awake?”

A low voice broke his reverie, and Gigantes’s eyes began to open slowly.

In his awakening sight was the dawn sunlight, just beginning to rise, and the middle of a ruined road.

His lower body was being dragged along that desolate road.

By the hand of the hero who was walking towards the city’s exit, holding him by the scruff of the neck.

“Am I… alive?”

“Of course, you’re alive. I hit you with controlled strength, didn’t I?”

Was she referring to when she smashed the giant’s head with a punch that even left sound behind?

Or when she dug into his body afterward?

“Controlled strength? That punch, you mean?”

“If I had hit you with full power, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Despite saying this nonchalantly, Spiritas continued dragging his body down the street.

Gigantes, shifting his gaze from her relaxed demeanor, looked down at his hand for a moment.

Though his heart still beat, he was barely holding on.

Unable to even twitch a finger, perhaps due to the backlash from his delicate technique being interrupted, he felt handicapped in using his abilities.

Even if his body recovered, it would be impossible to do the same thing again. After this battle, he could no longer pursue the peak.

“Mama…”

Amid this bitterness, a voice reached his ears.

Only then did Gigantes notice the small girl on the hero’s back dragging him.

“Isri has become one with Mama. Isri used the ultimate skill with Mama. The Nanodes Beam used with Mama… Mamades Beam… Hehehe…”

What kind of dream was she having to babble such carefree nonsense?

She looked like just an innocent girl, but Gigantes knew all too well that she was a villain on par with the one he served.

If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t have been defeated.

Of course, her role was merely supplementary to her technique.

Considering the level he might reach in the future, it was essential for him, who sought to crush the hope of the era, to defeat her.

Fighting together… This wasn’t even an excuse for his defeat.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Even acknowledging that, he couldn’t understand.

Just by looking at the scene, it was clear that a villain like him couldn’t be forgiven by her.

She had too much responsibility to consider it mere leisure.

“Hell is…”

She, looking around the scene she walked through, spoke as if answering his question.

“A comfortable place for someone like you to live.”

The city’s center.

The ground where the giant appeared couldn’t withstand its weight and caved in, becoming the giant’s tomb.

But even though the source of the disaster had vanished, the destruction didn’t disappear.

Even if his followers retreated, the scenes of their rampage wouldn’t be restored.

“Well, and it’s a bit of a waste to send my fan back just like that.”

She was keenly aware of it, even just from the trembling hand holding his scruff.

Despite that, she smiled nonchalantly, suppressing such feelings.

“Considering you even asked for my autograph, you must have watched my performances quite diligently. Wouldn’t it be a bit of a shame to die without seeing another performance?”

No matter how heinous a villain, there was no need to kill them once subdued.

They must live to serve as examples to those who might commit crimes in the future.

“…It’s disappointing that I won’t be able to watch broadcasts when imprisoned.”

If that could be considered the generosity of the strong.

Smiling bitterly at the nostalgic attitude, Spiritas turned to look at Gigantes in surprise.

“What’s that? Weren’t you joking earlier when you said you were a fan?”

“Shouldn’t we keep our evil deeds and hobbies separate?”

Though they were villains and heroes, he genuinely liked her as a fan.

Spiritas vaguely felt that, too.

After subduing him and searching his belongings, she found a signed paper carefully kept inside his clothes.

“…Don’t worry about that. Sometimes I perform at prisons too.”

That also taught him he was still human.

“Ho, do you perform for prisoners as well?”

“Even for the likes of you, those heinous villains…”

Yes, this man was human too.

Being human, they commit crimes, and those crimes stem from some cause.

“If given a chance, something might change.”

And the hero he admired said this.

‘We need hope for this era.’

Even those called evil might have fallen due to a lack of hope from the start.

Spreading hope to such people might be his mission.

Even if he couldn’t forgive their crimes, if he could lead them to reform.

“…So don’t think of dying easily. I’m going to teach you all how disgusting your deeds were for the rest of your life.”

If he could achieve that.

He harbored the expectation that the despair rampant in this world might lessen.

“…Spiritas.”

Hearing her sense of justice, Gigantes thought.

Trying to save even those who committed crimes…

Her mindset was certainly noble, but also incredibly naive.

“As a fan, it’s regrettable to say this, but neither I nor other villains will ever reform.”

If she knew how evil comes into being, she wouldn’t say such things lightly.

“That remains to be seen…”

“Even if I, a failed man, may not, that person definitely won’t.”

That person.

The one whom a man nearing the pinnacle of evil referred to could be only one person.

“…Seolhwa.”

With that confident answer, Spiritas quietly asked again.

“Seolhwa isn’t in this city, is she?”

“You noticed?”

“Though I don’t know about the other villains, you seemed deeply loyal to Seolhwa.”

If someone could devastate an entire city, it would inevitably harm her too.

Despite causing such destruction, her traces weren’t found, indicating she hadn’t set foot in this place.

“…Ironically, I don’t know exactly where she is either. Before this operation started, she stepped down from her position as the head of Pandemonia and left alone.”

“What?”

This statement was entirely unexpected, wasn’t it?

Her steps stopping in the ruins, she urgently turned to Gigantes, expressing shock.

“Stepped down? What do you mean?”

“It’s as I said. She handed me the leadership of Pandemonia and left alone to attend to her matters.”

The Association would consider it a blessing.

Though they missed the worst villain, they managed to capture the leader of the worst organization succeeding her.

“What the…”

But that was only from an objective viewpoint.

Ironically, Spiritas couldn’t just accept this statement positively.

“What is she aiming for? Why did she abandon the organization she created and run off alone?”

“Just to divert the Association’s attention for personal reasons… Pandemonia was originally created with that intent.”

“That’s absurd…”

An entire city was devastated by the organization she created.

Even if she didn’t personally participate, the reason for providing the cause was merely personal matters to avoid the Association?

How could that be a reasonable statement?

“Spiritas.”

The villain who had already been defeated spoke to the hero who couldn’t understand.

“Do you know why the Heavenly Demon spared her?”

No, he prepared to reveal the truth.

How much of the world they believed to be right was founded on lies.

Starting with the small being on her back.

And how many missteps the followers of justice, who claimed to oppose evil, had taken.

“Spared her? What do you mean?”

“They told the public this about the Great War three years ago. The Heavenly Demon and Seolhwa fought equally, and in the end, the Heavenly Demon won.”

Spiritas knew that too.

An event where more than half of the S-class heroes lost their lives.

In such a great war, the Heavenly Demon fought equally with one of the executives, eventually winning after many twists and turns.

But due to the fierce battle, his illness worsened, and he fled without being able to finish her off… That was the reason Seolhwa survived that war and the full extent of their enmity.

“But the truth is entirely different.”

Gigantes firmly denied that truth.

Even if it could be a disgrace to the one he served.

“That fight was not even close to equal. It was not even worthy of being called a fight. Her attacks never touched the Heavenly Demon, and from the beginning to the end, he completely overwhelmed her.”

Teaching how even such a disgrace was nothing, justifying why she had to act this way.

“At that time, the Heavenly Demon could have killed her anytime he wanted.”

Teaching how the disaster befalling this city stemmed from the hero, once called hope, sparing the worst villain.

End of Chapter