I'm Not Your Dad, I'm a Villain - Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Inevitability (1)

-Clang.

The sound of metal clinking and the restrictive sensation on her body.

Only then did Seolhwa realize she had been thrashing around unconsciously, taking a moment in the darkness to survey her surroundings.

‘I’ve been captured.’

Her arms and legs were bound by chains fixed to the walls.

Despite understanding her predicament, she didn’t panic or scream.

Even though she could have felt regret for her pitiful state, all she felt was a strange sense of relief.

‘With this, it’s all over.’

Yes, she had lived a life tormented by the memory of that day, unable to forget.

The path she started out of desperation, after her ideals were shattered, left no room for regret now.

Except for one moment, considering another path was never an option.

‘Why did you come here?’

In the darkness, that memory surfaced more vividly than any other.

The times when they shared hope and dreams.

‘For revenge.’

But even then, she didn’t want to leave even a scratch in front of them.

Now she regrets it, but back then that thought consumed her.

She didn’t want to appear as a remnant of the force they despised.

‘…Well, you must have your reasons.’

Back then, they trusted her.

Enough to overlook any doubts they had.

‘Yes, we all walked different paths but ended up here. Since we met like this… Let’s make a promise.’

Yes, those words must have come from that reason as well.

But what was that promise?

-Bzzz.

For some reason, she couldn’t recall it clearly.

Even though it was a precious memory, it felt like it was shattering into noise.

‘It’s all because of you.’

One thing did come to mind.

The man who led the decision that day, in front of her and the others, was the only one who survived the subsequent operation.

‘Why did you hide your power when you had it? If I had that power, I could have prevented all of this. Why!!’

It was just a matter of the result.

But if she had been confident in her own power back then…

Even if she took the same path, her circumstances might have been better.

“…Are you awake?”

A voice interrupted her regrets.

Her body flinched reflexively, the chains clanking noisily.

Escape was impossible. She sat there, quietly facing the person looking down at her.

“…Hero.”

“You’d better not resist.”

In the dark room, a man wearing a white mask sat on a chair, speaking to her indifferently.

“It will only prolong your suffering.”

No, what she needed to pay attention to even more was the remote control in his hand. McCoy must have handed it over to control her.

A remote that could control her.

-Bzzzt!

Ignoring it and trying to use her superhuman strength, pain immediately surged through her body.

The sensation of nerves being torn apart made Seolhwa collapse to the ground.

“…Kuh.”

“I told you not to resist.”

Threatening her with the remote, the man showed no mercy.

Yet Seolhwa did not stop.

Raising her trembling hand, she prepared to use her power right in front of him.

“You’re curious, aren’t you… What will happen to this body if I resist to the limit.”

-Wham!

As frost formed on her fingertips, the hero kicked her.

Her body crashed into the wall, collapsing powerlessly.

“Villain Seolhwa…”

Grabbing her by the hair, the hero glared at her with bloodshot eyes from beneath his mask.

Full of deep hatred.

“Don’t act all high and mighty. You’re not part of Ouroboros anymore, just a subdued villain.”

Ah, yes.

To him, she was a despicable existence.

Of course, for a hero, it was a natural reaction.

“…That’s what I want to say.”

But she remained calm.

She had seen those looks countless times.

“Do you still think I’m doing this as a member of Ouroboros?”

Her current regret was only because she hadn’t achieved her revenge.

For a woman who had already abandoned her life, pain couldn’t be a means of control.

“…Yes, you’re not part of Ouroboros anymore but Pandemonia.”

Realizing this, the man released his grip on her collar.

He then pulled out a smartphone from his pocket and showed it to Seolhwa.

“But even that esteemed organization failed.”

The screen displayed news about the recent attack on District B.

Though the damage was severe, District B had been defended, and most of Pandemonia members were killed or captured.

In addition, the majority of high-ranking villains in the organization were dead or incapacitated. It was essentially the end of Pandemonia.

“Do you understand what this means? Everything you built outside Ouroboros has been crushed by the Association.”

“…”

“Do you truly have no thoughts about it?”

The man shouted at the silent Seolhwa.

She responded with a bitter smile.

“That’s done. Shall we talk about now?”

A topic completely unrelated to his question, making Vanguard’s expression sour.

“…Do you have no camaraderie?”

“What’s your name?”

In truth, the annihilation of the organization did leave her feeling bitter.

She had abandoned them and fled when the operation began, but she still felt gratitude and apology toward her close subordinates.

But mourning their failure and death should never be done in front of a hero.

Evil opposes society’s interests and antagonizes those called just.

Even if it was a facade, she must always act dignified in front of them.

“…”

Vanguard kept his mouth shut at her nonchalant response.

Eventually, he seemed to give up on something, setting the fallen chair upright before sitting in front of her.

A response came after a while.

“Unbreakable Vanguard.”

“An unbreakable vanguard, a fitting name for a hero.”

Seolhwa looked up at him with mild admiration.

It wasn’t an empty compliment.

Someone who stands tall and perseveres through any adversity… If he lived up to his name, he was a hero worthy of fighting against evil.

“…You must have undergone those disgusting experiments too.”

But what was the reality?

To enter the same deviation to counter evil.

“That’s why you follow him, right? The one who introduced the new concept of multi-gift…”

“…It’s none of your business.”

“It’s not entirely unrelated. If you must know… You could say you are my junior.”

And that was why she couldn’t overlook the person in front of her.

Though she couldn’t claim to be a judge, she knew the origin of his path.

“You know how many gifted people were sacrificed to create the power that made you a hero, right?”

Whispering the naked truth to him, Seolhwa spoke.

A noble hero might wrestle with her words, but Vanguard’s response was the same as always.

“…It’s also for justice.”

“You’re just compromising.”

Seolhwa easily denied his conclusion.

Was anything justified for the sake of justice?

“If you were confident in your actions, you’d announce it publicly. We sacrificed many gifted individuals to create a powerful hero to fight against evil…”

“For the whole, information that causes chaos must be contained. The public doesn’t need to know everything.”

“That’s a ridiculous statement. You don’t ask for their opinions, impose your will after committing acts, and call it consideration.”

“A villain like you…”

“No, I know better because I’m a villain. Deviance breeds more deviance, and even in the shadows I’ve walked, the consequences of these procedures are happening endlessly.”

Heh.

Laughing, she looked up at Vanguard with hollow eyes.

“Surely you don’t think you can handle it all later…”

“…”

“Vanguard. As a hero, you know that in a disaster, you must act quickly.”

If you’re even a bit late, people lose their lives…

That’s why heroes must be the first to save lives.

They must never ignore those dying right before them. That’s what makes a hero.

“Even striving for that, why do you leave those dying by your actions unattended?”

In conclusion.

Using power obtained through deviance, you might control more and fix past mistakes.

But do they know?

That the justice they strive for stems not from statistics, but from individual deviance.

“To tell them to wait for a rescue that may never come is a torture under the guise of hope. Those who feel betrayed by you, even now…”

-Thud!

Unable to bear the provocation, Vanguard threw the chair beside her.

A fragment grazed her cheek.

“…Wrong.”

Seeing the blood trickling from the wound, Vanguard barely suppressed his rage as he spoke.

“Do you not think what you did was wrong?”

“…”

“Indeed, as you said…”

His fists trembled with rage.

But he didn’t strike her.

Picking up the previously discarded smartphone, he showed her the screen again.

“Look, this is what you’ve done.”

Numerous articles scrolling on the screen.

All detailing the attack on District B.

“Over a hundred heroes died. Thousands of civilians died, tens of thousands were injured. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes and property. This is the result of the fight you started!”

Such damages are still being updated. In fact, it will indirectly affect the entire continent.

And it all started with her.

Even after leaving Ouroboros, unlike other executives who went into hiding, she raised her forces in the shadows and unleashed them.

“Do you feel nothing about causing this?”

Even if the event wasn’t her main objective but a distraction, it meant she caused a city’s destruction for personal revenge.

Like unbuckling the seatbelt and fleeing from a speeding car, watching what havoc it would wreak…

“Do you think you have the right to criticize us who became monsters to fight beings like you?”

But he wished that even such a heinous villain had a human heart.

At least like him.

That they would wrestle with their path and feel remorse as humans do.

End of Chapter