How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 76: Victors & Losers

[Ichiko's POV]

"Did you honestly think you had a chance?" I asked my opponent who had half of her face melted off from the lava I spewed at her.

"Ha-halp... haa-ffaaace... miih... m-m-misss-sing... y-yoouu... b-bi-biiithh..."

She was trying to speak but I guess missing half a face makes it hard to pronounce certain words properly.

"In your next life, don't insult me or my fiancé unless you have the ability to back it up," I scoffed as I approached her.

"Pl-pleeath... no."

She was done on her knees, the joints on her limbs no longer working as I sliced the tendons.

I placed the sole of my shoe on her face and with a light push, I kicked her body down to the floor and gathered a decent amount of lava in my mouth before spitting it out, burning the rest of her body.

Seeing through Aoi's eyes, I could see that the Hiryu's clan leader was enraged at what I had done and was trying to make his way towards me but Father was keeping him occupied.

"Teach your daughter to have some respect if you don't want people to scorch her into ashes."

Father didn't take much longer to wrap up the duel because an enraged fighter is a fighter who moves based on emotions rather than rationality.

He used his naginata to slice off the Hiryu's clan leader's head and he picked up by the hair, raising it up into the air, and roared, announcing to the two armies that he was the victor.

Morale lowered, skillfully outclassed, the numbers of Hiryu clan members began to quickly dwindle; the war had begun with them outnumbering us but now, it was about even.

I watched the generals from both clans and observed where I was needed on the battlefield.

'There.'

I pulled my katana out from the ground and began making my way over to General Shiki who was currently on the losing end of a duel.

If this was an honorable proposed one-on-one duel then I wouldn't have interfered even if my own clan general died but because this was an unofficial duel that was often interfered with by foot soldiers, I had no guilt to worry about.

General Shiki was a large specimen who was over seven feet tall but had the physique of someone who was short and a bodybuilder.

Suppressing my presence, I hid behind his body and used Aoi's eyes to tell me when was the perfect time to pop out from behind.

'Now.'

I leaped from behind his back and spat out lava that formed into the shape of a small dragon.

The Hiryu general didn't expect the attack and his body moved a split second too late and his weapon-wielding arm was burning, his skin and part of his flesh starting to melt.

"Thanks for the assistance miss," said General Shiki who followed up immediately with a swing of his giant-sized odachi.

Unable to move his dominant arm with the same speed as before, the Hiryu general had to block with the palm of his other hand. The mana he coated his hand with was quickly slashed through however and his hand was split right down the middle, bones exposed.

Feeling confident about the rest of how this battle was going to unravel, I dashed over to this area of the battle where the Hiryus were outnumbering my people by a large margin.

In such a compact space where enemies and allies were grouped together in every spot, I couldn't use my magic and instead had to resort to nothing but the blade in my hands.

One by one, like flies the enemies started to drop, and once I felt like there was no more disparity issue to deal with it, I moved on to someplace else.

I continued this a few more times and an hour later, the battle had concluded.

Excluding those who had a high rank in the clan, everyone was on their knees, giving thanks to our fallen soldiers, our deceased family, and friends who lost their lives in the battle with honor.

A little girl who was dressed in a black kimono had a flute made of bamboo and she played this somber music that had been a part of our clan since its creation.

My personal maids had been hard at work and each of them returned with each of them claiming at least two commanders' heads for themselves.

"Good work out there," I told them.

"Thank you miss."

"You too miss. I saw you cooking, literally cooking people out there with your lava."

"No wonder why there's so much ash on the battlefield."

"Let me get your katana miss. Look at how damaged it is. I just repaired it yesterday too."

I handed her the katana and then tilted my head forward. I didn't need to say it for one of them to take the helmet off of me.

I was a generous master so I asked, "What would you girls like as a reward?"

Like hyenas that had been waiting for this the whole time, they all answered at the same time.

"There's this new car that I've been eyeing."

"Can I have the painting you were given by that foolish boy who still believes he has a chance with you even though you're already engaged?"

"Land."

"Can you get me tickets to the STB concert? They're touring here and I'd like to watch them live."

All four of them could've requested their freedom from being my personal maid. I've told them this numerous times but as always, they never asked for it.

"Okay," I answered.

"Thank you miss."

"You're the best."

"Thanks."

"If I wasn't so into hot dudes with dad bods, I'd kiss you right now."

The other three smacked the one who mentioned a kiss on the back of her head.

Under the rules established by the government, the victor gets to claim whatever assets the other clan had so Tsuki emerged out of the ground, and while half of the clan warriors we brought to battle remained to aid with the clean-up, the other half, which included me, was making our way to the Hiryu's home.

Father came to me and asked, "What are you going to do about the remaining Hiryus?"

Our country was very brutal to the losers of war. Those who weren't dead now belonged to us.

As our slaves, we could put them to work in the fields, exile them if we were feeling merciful, or execute them all.

It didn't matter what we did; the Emperor wouldn't interfere regardless of the choice.

Usually, I just chose to exile them because that was the easiest decision. Sometimes, I'd choose to keep them and put them to work as punishment for killing a lot of our people during the war.

But this time was different. These people had been plotting our destruction behind the scenes, scheming with other clans in an attempt to overwhelm us.

"Execute them all."

"Even the women and children?" asked Father.

"...Yes."

There was no mercy for the Hiryus. If I let any of them live, they'd only want revenge. It was better to nip it in the bud before it could grow in the future.

Father didn't refute my decision or chime in with his own opinion. He just nodded, trusted that my decision was the correct one, and returned to his group of generals to discuss something.

Not only did I order their execution but I watched all of the beheadings from start to finish.

Once the buildings were looted until there was nothing of importance left, I had them burn it down.

To kill two birds with one stone, I had the bodies and heads thrown into the buildings.

Watching it burn for a while, one of my personal maids tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Miss, shall we get go see your mother?"

I remained silent for another minute, just gazing at what was before me and smelling that mixture of smoky scent from the wood and the sharp, choking, sulfuric odor of the human flesh.

"Let's return."

The four of them then surrounded me in each direction and they lifted their silk robe into the air. The size of the fabric increased until the entire area was surrounded by the material like a giant scrunchie.

It took less than ten seconds but when they dropped their robe which regained their original shape and size, I was out of my armor and was dressed in my usual kimono without moving a single finger.

I left Father to deal with the rest and hopped in the car that arrived for me.

When I returned home, Mother was waiting for me at the entrance.

She was always worried about me but always greeted me with a smile.

Mother was like a comfortable blanket for me to jump into, even though I never tell her because if I do, she'll tease me for it.

"I'm home," I said.

"Welcome home."

That night, I struggled to sleep.

Death wasn't a stranger to me. Taking the lives of others wasn't something I ever regretted because if the shoe was on the other foot, it'd be me who was dead.

That's not why I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't sleep because I couldn't get off my phone as I continued browsing through the internet.

"Bell Agnus has followed in his older brother's footsteps. But has he gone too far?"

"According to information released by the police and the church, the baron had humans locked up in cages in his basement. One room shows that he was indulging in the arts of dark magic. Bell Agnus had done the world a great service by removing the parasite before it grew too powerful."

"We already have a demon king to worry about. As a human, how could you be just as evil if not more since it's your own kind you're tormenting."

"Bell Agnus has the comeback story of the decade. As many of us remember, he was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student at the academy. Proven innocent because he was under the influence of a demon curse mark which is something that no one can blame him for. Now he's gone out of his way to kill evil in a city that was corrupted under the influence of Baron Gabriel."

I was in this trance, watching videos that both praised and criticized Bell.

For the ones who were on the right side of the situation, I gave them a like to support their video.

For the ones who were on the wrong side, I made sure to report their accounts for harassment and spreading lies.

By the time I realized that I had been in a trance, it was already three hours past midnight.

"Oh no... I have a meeting to attend in three hours."