I'll Be Villain to Everyone! Except for my Cat...

Chapter 118: The Burnt Forest

As he passed the first black tree and stepped into the forest, the sense of dread deepened.

The dim, yellowish glow of the black hole barely allowed him to make out the outlines of the gloomy tree trunks. Without close inspection, their silhouettes resembled monstrous, demonic creatures from a distance.

*Tap* He pressed the bracelet, and the suit blended in with the tree trunks, fading into invisibility.

"..." Glancing back, he tried to spot Noir.

It wasn’t hard, since the massive minigun, shotgun, and bomb capsule were literally floating in the air 20 meters behind him. A moment later, the weapons were covered by some kind of camouflage fabric and disappeared as well. Only the dark bomb capsule remained, blending in quite well with the surroundings.

Activating his helmet visor, Mr. Nobody saw the outline of his partner’s figure. The surroundings also became noticeably sharper and were outlined in a faint red glow.

Without a sound, he widened the gap between himself and his partner even further and stepped deeper into the forest.

The surroundings mirrored the Forest of the Red Lambs from the Pit so strongly that he involuntarily began to succumb to the atmosphere. His chilled limbs trembled slightly from the sense of dread hanging thick in the air, and his hearing, amplified by the suit, strained to catch every rustle.

Ten minutes passed in this silence.

In the silence, he found himself trapped in his own thoughts, but he didn’t consider it a bad thing.

For some reason, in moments like these, he felt more comfortable alone. Perhaps because he was used to it, or perhaps it was still a manifestation of his tendency to keep people at a distance.

Maybe that was partly why he suspected Noir? After all, he had no real reason to suspect him, other than the fact that he had no shadow. And even that didn’t mean much without understanding the context.

"..." As he made his way between the trees, a sound began to reach him. Very quiet and distant, almost imperceptible.

Perhaps they were approaching something.

He flexed his mechanical fist, his hand paused at his side, where a massive revolver rested within a hidden compartment in his suit. Several throwing knives were hidden in a secret compartment on his chest.

He hesitated, then withdrew his hand and gently touched the tree trunk with his fingers. A little black ash remained on his invisible fingertips, and he brushed it off.

’With great power comes great responsibility...’ he thought.

Until recently, he had believed that his power was practically indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person. Besides, his two abilities were incapable of causing direct harm.

For two years, he had hesitated to accept the responsibility and walk the path of a Dream Champion. To tell the truth, the fact that his power was no different from that of an ordinary person.

But as soon as he took his first steps on this path, reality hit him, telling him that he was definitely not just an ordinary person anymore. It became even harder to brush this off by saying he was just Nobody.

Turning back was no longer easy.

"Nobody... you there Nobody?" A voice sounded inside his helmet.

He didn’t answer right away. Standing behind a tree, he looked around and, spotting Noir two hundred meters away, finally replied.

"...Yeah. I’m here."

For some reason, the nearly forgotten urge to smoke stirred again.

"Damn, why did I have to get through three layers of encryption just to contact you?" It was their coordinator, Sofien. "Dude in the mask heard strange sounds. I sent you the route; you need to proceed and investigate what it is. Be careful. The route leads to the approximate coordinates of our target."

Paymax displayed a transparent map on his visor screen.

"...Got it," he replied quietly, and, nodding, moved slightly to the left.

"You don’t have to stay silent the whole time. Activate the sound dampening inside the suit and stay in contact with the dude in the mask."

Reluctantly, he did as she said.

Gradually, the unsettling sounds grew closer.

...

"To be honest, I could barely keep my cool." Noir’s voice came through his helmet. "Man, that’s creepy as hell, especially since my partner started playing Silent Hunter."

"...It’s just that I had a not-so-pleasant experience in a similar situation in the past. I think that’s why I’m on high alert now and prefer not to rely on my partner more than necessary."

"I know the feeling. We’re all prisoners of our past to some extent..." Noir said melancholically.

This made Mr. Nobody realize that he didn’t really know much about his partner. Mainly because he himself had hardly ever asked about it.

Looking back, he could no longer see his figure, but the visor showed that he was 300 meters away.

The forest still looked dead and scorched, but the sound, growing along with a sense of dread, indicated that they were on the right track.

Goosebumps slowly began to appear on his skin.

"I remember you mentioned that you’re half Dirty Baal," Mr. Nobody began. "I don’t want to touch on any sore spots, but there’s always been something I’ve wondered about... Your inability to sleep. Of course, you don’t need it to stay alive, but it’s possible during a coma or loss of consciousness. As far as I understand, something unpleasant happens then. Mind telling me what it is?"

"Well... I don’t exactly know for sure. Perhaps there were similar episodes in my childhood, but over time, they all faded from memory. I don’t recall ever sleeping in my life, but I have been on the verge of losing consciousness."

"And what happened then?"

"It’s... like the call of Havoc. Or the call of powerful ancestors. I’ve heard that the Dirty Baals who walk the Path can eventually avoid this entirely. After joining the Path of Concord, I started noticing how it affects me less."

"The call of Havoc? What is that?"

"You know that when people take the First Step, they gain the ability to wield one of the six energies, right? Most likely, when they fall asleep, the Dirty Baals come into contact with the very nature of the energy of Havoc. You know, madness, destruction, dismemberment... things like that. Basically, it’s the kind of thing that can break your mind and turn an ordinary Dirty Baal into something like a Fool Baal.

This made Mr. Nobody raise his eyebrows slightly beneath his mask.

"And the Fool Baals? Can’t they sleep because of this either, or..."

"Oh no, those creatures actually spend most of their time sleeping and wallowing in that madness. They very rarely come out into reality, and when they do, most often, that’s when contracts like ours start showing up."

He wanted to ask something else, but at that moment, Sofien’s voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

"Nobody, stop immediately!"