How to Redeem a Trashy Side Villain

Chapter 97: Second Rule

As the battle raged on, the three of us continued wielding our magic and weapons, slowly chipping away at Selgaath's health.

Admittedly, I had to give credit to the shitty god; he made this battle incredibly challenging by making the first boss actually hard.

In the original story, Arthurr became an overnight sensation at the academy, credited as the victor of the battle with a demon.

"Oh my gosh! How did a student win a battle with a demon!?"

However, in reality, during the battle, he was fighting not to win, but to survive. Just as Selgaath was about to strike the final blow, plot armor kicked in, and he was saved by the timely return of the headmistress.

She not only saved his life but defeated the demon in a single combo; one of the few instances that she appeared in the story despite being one of the strongest humans.

This time, things had to be different.

I was determined to defeat the demon before the headmistress arrived.

I didn't mind sharing the glory with Arthurr, as I already knew I couldn't beat Selgaath alone unless I had crazy plot armor.

I was going to make the world recognize me, Bell Agnus, as the true protagonist one way or another.

'When will I be used, Master?' Yanari inquired, my black patch of hair artifact.

'Same here. When?' added Vaulheshia, my right pinky.

Wait you two. Soon. Be patient.

I had been holding back from using these two powerful artifacts I had acquired very early on, but now was the perfect time for me to use them despite their long reset time.

Meanwhile, Moon had taken advantage of the extra space, created by Selgaath's move where he enlarged his tentacles and began randomly smashing around his surroundings, to fly around in the air.

More accurately, he was just manipulating the space around him to prevent him from falling back down on the ground.

Thankfully the infrastructure of the buildings was really well built or else the entire building could've collapsed.

Sorry to whoever has to repair this after the battle. I hope you get paid the big bucks.

In my box, where I had kept Gon inside, I had prepared some mana potions in advance because I knew they would be needed.

I would've prepared holy-based potions or needles soaked in the blood of a fallen angel if it wasn't for the fact that it would make me look super suspicious.

Why would a student randomly have those items on the day that a demon attacks the academy?

After I informed Moon about what was in the box, he took one of them out and popped the cap open.

After Moon replenished his mana, he began unleashing magical spells as if he had an unlimited reserve of mana.

Dozens of sabers were floating around in the air and he was thrusting them around in the air.

He was using the finesse of the sabers to control the tempo of the battlefield somewhat; it was still very hard to get Selgaath to get off his programming from the novel.

Before Selgaath could react, Sun hurled his saber like a throwing axe, striking the demon in the head. In a swift move, he seized another saber from the air and used it to block a tentacle aiming at him.

Arthurr had lost multiple limbs by this point, and they had to merge on numerous occasions to regenerate themselves back to full health.

I found myself in a similar predicament, having already used the regeneration code six times. On one occasion, I lost both arms and was saved by Moon, who pushed himself to the limit, altering the trajectory of Selgaath's tentacles aimed at my leg.

If you did the math, since the code requires seven usages, six times seven equals 42.

42 uses of codes are already gone and the demon was barely getting started.

Sun, harnessing the power of the sun, summoned flames that danced around him like a festival of fire spirits. He spun to evade one of Selgaath's attacks and simultaneously launched a fiery projectile at the demon's face, causing it to backpedal.

Combining his flames with swift movements, he created a wall of fire that temporarily separated Selgaath from us. The heat intensified, and the gravitational pull of the orb he had released into the air hindered the demon's movements.

With a powerful kick on the heel of the handle, Sun launched his saber like a cannonball before spreading his arms wide.

"Close!" he shouted as he clapped his hands. The wall of flames surrounding Selgaath closed in on him, intensifying the heat.

When the flames and the gravitational orb dissipated, Selgaath bore light burn marks all over his body.

"Not bad," Selgaath remarked, launching a flurry of quick strikes that Sun and I had to avoid. "Almost as hot as the flames back home."

"I know that had to sting," Sun said, laughing as he rolled on the floor, skillfully avoiding the tentacles in a childlike manner.

It appeared he was treating the battle lightly, but I sensed that Sun's instincts were his best guide to survival.

If he had to roll like an idiot to survive then fucking roll.

I summoned a bolt of lightning with my right hand, its crackling intensity lighting up the scene. I hurled it, zapping Selgaath and immobilizing it for a brief moment. I seized the opportunity to strike at the wound on his chest I had left earlier, deepening the cut.

As I leaped back, I held Gon's handle between my teeth, shaping my lightning into a bow and firing arrows at the tentacles. This pushed them away from Sun, allowing him to get up and stab Selgaath's arm with his saber.

"Good assist!" Sun's voice rose above the chaos of the loud battle.

The saber in his hand began to melt as the mana layer had been cracked by a tentacle, but Sun swiftly plucked another one from the air.

"No problem," I replied, my voice steady.

'Master.'

What is it Gon?

'Why aren't you anxious about the fact that this demon seems to set on killing you specifically?'

Should I be?

'...No. I guess not. But even my previous master was fearful of these demons regardless of how powerful he was. Aren't you even a little bit worried about succumbing to them?'

Gon had witnessed me confronting two demons now, willingly putting myself in harm's way, so I understood their curiosity.

Of course, there are worries. There's always a chance that I make a mistake and I don't get to see tomorrow. But I've worked my ass off to get this strong. If I fail, that's just a testament that I didn't work that extra mile I needed.

'...I see. I'll make sure that we win then.'

Thank you.

As the battle continued, Sun's voice cut through the intensity of our combat. "Woah! That one almost got me, you ugly octopus!"

He had barely dodged an attack that was aimed at his right arm but because of the way that he avoided the attack, it was a millimeter away from striking him in the head.

Danger — caused by his own mistake.

"Almost had you there, you funny human," taunted Selgaath.

"Hahaha!" Sun laughed in response, but I knew his humor and taunts were a coping mechanism right now.

It wasn't the same as before.

The jokes that he was cracking, constantly taunting the demon as we battled, it was to mask his own underlying fears he had in his heart.

The battle was taking its toll on him, both physically and mentally.

This was the longest he'd ever been in a fight before. Physically we were pushing ourselves to the limit because we were practically moving at superhuman speed the entire time as slowing down even one second could lead to disaster.

Mentally, he had to juggle casting spells, evading attacks, and the fear of making a critical mistake that would not only harm him but also his partners.

In the novel, he thought to himself that he hoped to overcome the odds and emerge victorious but he couldn't help but feel the weight of responsibility rested on his shoulders.

In his eyes, failure would mean the loss of other students as Selgaath would go on to kill others with him out of the way.

Arthurr-Sun was the embodiment of the idealistic, heroic protagonist, valuing every human life dearly.

Arthurr-Moon on the other hand, remained sharp and focused on the tactical aspects of the battle.

He was not one to worry excessively; he preferred to spend his time devising strategies for victory.

Obviously, beneath his composure, I sensed his determination to protect Sun and me, ensuring our survival in each exchange with Selgaath. It's just that he mastered the art of suppressing his emotions just enough to continue making rational decisions amidst the heat of battle like an emotionless general.

As we neared the halfway mark of Selgaath's health bar, which also signaled the second stage of the battle, an unexpected development unfolded — one I hadn't anticipated.

Moon, who had taken on the role of full-time support because Sun and I excelled at close-range damage more than him against Selgaath, something I had to learn myself, suddenly hesitated in the midst of the battle.

It wasn't a mere hesitation, but rather, his spatial magic, critical to maintaining pressure on Selgaath, faltered.

Sun and I immediately noticed his distress, and the pace of the battle shifted as we focused more on evasion than dealing damage.

What the fuck is going on?

"What's happening, Moon?" I asked as I pulled back, while Sun tried to divert Selgaath's attention away from the two of us.

Despite his typically composed demeanor which he still had on his face, a nervous bead of sweat dripped down Moon's forehead.

He confessed, "I can't use my spatial magic effectively right now. It's as if something is interfering with it."

"What?"

I couldn't fathom how something like this could occur; typically, it indicated a problem with a mage's mana veins and mana was leaking which arcane's equivalent of internal bleeding.

How the fuck did that happen?

"Alright, no worries. It's an easy fix," I said. "Combine with Sun and regenerate yourself."

Moon nodded in agreement.

But as I was about to convey this to Sun, he struck Selgaath's leg, causing the demon to roar in pain, "ARRRGGGHHHH!!!".

A shockwave pushed everything in its vicinity, propelling Sun toward us. "What the heck was that?" he asked as he got up from the ground.

Shit. Second stage.

Without a physical health bar to gauge, I could only estimate Selgaath's health which I had been doing the entire time.

I didn't expect it to be at its crucial 50% threshold now, the second rule out of the four.

I call it a rule because why the fuck does he need to wait until he's down to half-health to transform when he could've done it the entire time?

"Combine, both of you," I urgently directed them.

Combining before Selgaath was down to half-health would have been far more straightforward earlier but now it would take a full minute, not a mere second.

Why?

Because of Selgaath's second form and the abilities that it came with.

His tentacle wings, once used for flight, twisted and wrapped around his already muscular arms, giving them an even more robust appearance. He had lost his ability to hover above the battlefield, grounding him completely.

At first glance, Selgaath's loss of flight might have seemed advantageous, but it was far from it.

In his earlier form, although he was constantly applying pressure on us and we had to evade his attacks, he was like a sitting punching bag, absorbing our blows and allowing us to deal small but consistent damage with each successful strike.

Now, however, with the exchange of his flight capability for a more agile, elusive fighting style, Selgaath resembled a seasoned boxer more than a mindless demon.

He would fight with his fists and slick footwork.

His tentacles would still try to attack with the same pattern from rule one but they would only pop out from his arms when Selgaath deemed it was the right time, adding an aspect of surprise to the battle.

Thankfully, we could get hit by his arms without our limbs getting melted.

They don't count as tentacles even though technically, his arms were wrapped in tentacles meaning that anything his arms touched should melt.

Whatever.

Another one of the shitty god's mistakes in his writing.

But most importantly though, Selgaath's transformation brought forth his domain. Its primary ability was to hinder the activation of spells, adding an additional one-minute timer to every incantation.

This meant that spells, once instantaneous, now demanded a full minute to cast. If a spell originally took a minute to perform, it now required two, and so on.

One minute with just me and this swift boxing motherfucker.

As Selgaath rose to his feet, he ominously cracked his neck and cracked his knuckles.

"Hahaha!" he laughed before lunging toward me.

...Fuck.