IATVWAMOLS 103

103. The Villainess on a White Horse Appears (2)

Boom!

With an ear-splitting roar, the transparent barrier surrounding the abandoned mine shattered.

“My Lady!”

The knights threw themselves around me, shielding me.

Even so, the sheer shockwave that shook the earth rattled my entire body.

“What on earth…?”

After the deafening blast subsided, silence fell once more. Nothing else seemed to happen.

“A-Are you all right?”

Seraphine, still in the arms of one of the knights, anxiously checked on me.

Albert, the head butler, who had been covering his head with both hands, staggered to his feet. His gaze went blankly to where the mine had once stood.

“…?”

Only moments ago, it had looked like nothing more than an abandoned mine.

Now, in its place stood a grand, modern building.

Smoke billowed from chimneys, and faint light leaked from shuttered windows.

Whatever had just happened, the explosion had shattered the concealment barrier that had been hiding it.

What were they doing inside that they had to hide it so thoroughly?

The whole place reeked of suspicion.

“Sir Albert, take the lead.”

Inside the Facility

“Th-The specimen has awakened!”

The moment Cayenne broke the protective seal, people rushed into the storage hall in a panic.

“Oh? Guess I’ve been found out.”

Cayenne scratched the back of his head—then paused.

Ah, right. He had a hole in the back of it.

Come to think of it, his head had been ringing nonstop. Since unleashing that shockwave, the dizziness had only gotten worse.

Must’ve overloaded my body from using too much mana.

Normally, this much wouldn’t even faze him. It had been a long time since he’d felt this kind of strain.

He clenched and unclenched his fist. His fingertips felt oddly numb, almost paralyzed.

“Damn it, what the hell were you doing? A single specimen broke through the barrier?!”

“I-I’ve never seen anything like it! We suppressed his mana the moment we captured him!”

“Shut up with the excuses! You should’ve prepared redundancies—double, triple layers in case the inhibitor failed! You moved all the data, right? If headquarters finds out, we’re all dead!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

The guards barked back hastily, not caring whether Cayenne could hear them or not.

They locked the heavy steel door, determined not to let him escape.

Cayenne simply blinked lazily at the sight.

Specimen.

It had been a long time since he’d been called that.

But his thoughts were sluggish from the pounding in his head.

When he tried to rise, something tugged at his arm.

“…?”

A thin needle was embedded in his forearm.

It connected to a long hose, which fed into a glass container—draining his mana straight from his veins.

So that’s why I’m dizzy.

Cayenne smirked faintly.

Still leeching away people’s life force like parasites, just like before.

With a flick, he yanked the needle out.

“Th-That damn cockroach!”

“Why isn’t he collapsing?! His body should’ve already reached its limit!”

“I don’t care—kill him! Tear him apart however you can!”

Ratatatatat!

Mana bullets rained down on him, weapons designed to kill monstrous beasts. For a human, even a single hit would mean instant death.

Dozens of blasts of condensed mana filled the air.

“Cough—cough!”

The bombardment filled the room with choking smoke.

Not even the fiercest beast should’ve been able to survive such a ruthless assault.

And yet—

“Wh-What?!”

“You’re too slow.”

Cayenne slipped through every blast with ease.

“How is he still alive?”

“He’s… he’s not human…”

When his silhouette emerged from the haze, the guards recoiled as if they’d seen a ghost.

They backed away, despite being fully armed from head to toe. They weren’t seasoned fighters.

“What’s this? So many of you, and you’re already scared stiff? Come on.”

Even weakened, handling this rabble was child’s play.

“If you won’t come… I’ll go.”

“—!”

He shot forward like an arrow.

Compressed mana gathered at his fingertips and pierced through them like lances.

“Guhk!”

“Arghhh!”

They tried to flee, but in the narrow storeroom, there was nowhere to hide.

Cayenne wasn’t in top form, but it didn’t matter.

In a confined space, he had every advantage.

Slash. Stab.

Blood spattered across the walls as he hunted them like rats in a trap.

“Lucky you. You’re the last one standing.”

“Uwaaah!”

The final man shrieked in terror as Cayenne approached.

“P-Please! Spare me! Just me, please!”

“…Why would I?”

“—!”

His abdomen was pierced, and his scream cut off.

Silence fell over the storage room.

“Haaah…”

Cayenne let out a ragged breath, the fight over in an instant.

The metallic stench of blood filled his lungs.

“Damn… this is killing me.”

He collapsed heavily to the ground.

Even now, his strength was draining away.

With his mana siphoned like blood, even he couldn’t hold out much longer.

His monstrous stamina partly came from his natural physique—but also from mana sustaining him.

His vision blurred more with every breath.

I need to get out of here. My master must be worried…

“….”

His thoughts grew foggy.

Everything felt like too much trouble. He didn’t even want to lift a finger. It would be easier just to close his eyes.

At that moment—

Creak. Clang.

“Well, well. Still alive? I thought you’d be dead already.”

“…!”

A heavy steel door swung open, and a senior officer of the facility stepped inside.

He clicked his tongue at the carnage.

“Tch. Sent men to deal with you, and it looks like they got slaughtered instead.”

“You…”

The officer peered closely at Cayenne’s fading face.

“What a waste. With this level of mana, you could’ve been our finest specimen—not just here, but across the entire Empire. But you hurried to your own death.”

“….”

“Farewell, then.”

He raised a mace to smash the back of Cayenne’s head.

“Cayenne!”

Boom!

The steel door exploded open, and Roselia burst in.

Roselia’s Arrival

I entered the building with my knights.

Inside resembled a laboratory—samples of strange plants and animals scattered everywhere, along with suspicious experimental devices.

It’s just like what I saw in Cayenne’s memories.

The equipment bore fresh signs of use.

But not a soul stirred.

A foreboding chill ran down my spine.

“Spread out! Find Cayenne at once!”

“Yes, my Lady!”

The knights searched swiftly and systematically.

“My Lady! There’s commotion in the basement!” one shouted.

I immediately turned to Albert.

“What’s down there?”

“There should be a storage hall… but the entrance is sealed with security wards. Outsiders can’t get in.”

“Then break it down.”

“P-Pardon?”

Before Albert could protest further, the knights smashed through the lock.

Count Vermon’s gifted magic tools came in handy.

As soon as the heavy door was breached, I saw Cayenne—half-dead on the ground.

My heart plummeted.

The officer who had been standing over him flinched in surprise.

“Damn intruders…!”

The knights immediately restrained him.

I rushed to Cayenne’s side, pouring healing potions and scrolls over him without hesitation.

The bleeding at the back of his head slowly began to stop.

“…Master?”

“Are you conscious?”

Cayenne’s eyes fluttered open. His lips trembled faintly.

“I wanted to see you… and now I really do. Feels good.”

“You can still joke at a time like this?”

I scolded him, but relief flooded me.

The knights carefully lifted him up to carry him.

“Tie that man up and bring him along.”

I cast a cold glance at the officer.

“Like I’d go down that easily.”

Beep!

He blew a whistle, and a cacophony erupted from outside the storage hall.

“What now—?”

In an instant, dozens of monsters swarmed around him.

“Grrr…”

Like rabid hounds, they bared their fangs, drool dripping.

Some spat writhing tentacles from their mouths, others swung spiked tails like iron clubs.

Ssss—hiss!

One creature sprayed venom, sizzling against the ground.

“Eat them all.”

“KRAAAAH!”

At his command, the house-sized beasts charged at us in unison.