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

Chapter 120: Bloody Disco

Mr. Nobody stared in horror at the entity standing a meter away from him.

The Fool Baal was dressed in a jester-like costume dominated by red tones.

His eyes glowed with an intense red light. His face was dark, almost black, scorched-looking. Only his sharp teeth were a gleaming white.

The terror emanating from this monster paralyzed his thoughts and limbs.

"Hey, guys, did you come to the party too? We’re always happy to have guests, especially ones like you..." The creature’s devilishly playful voice cut through the silence along with the sound of a tongue licking. Its tongue ran over Noir’s helmet. "...Who smell so delicious."

The creature’s jaws stretched open, then sank into Noir’s neck.

There was a tearing sound as the suit was ripped open.

"W-what the fuck?!!!"

Noir let out a wild scream, and his hands snapped to his own neck.

*Crack!* With one sharp movement, he twisted the Fool Baal’s head 180 degrees and snapped his neck.

The monster’s body fell to the ground as easily as if it weighed nothing at all.

Noir was breathing heavily and making panicked sounds as he rubbed his neck. A clear mark from the teeth remained on the suit, barely missing the skin.

Sofien was shouting something into his helmet; Noir clutched his head and muttered something in terror... At that moment, only a deafening ringing filled Mr. Nobody’s head.

"..." He looked at the creature lying there with a broken neck, and looking back at him, still smiling.

The red glow in its eyes flared even brighter.

"What a wonderful scent... You smell like someone special. If she chose you, then you must be special too?" The creature twitched, trying to reach his foot. "Let me take at least a little piece!"

"...Fuck!" He activated the suit and slammed the Fool Baal’s head with all his might.

*Screech!* The creature’s skull cracked, and half its head was crushed flat.

Barely ten seconds had passed since he first spotted the creature. What had it been after all this time, hiding behind Noir’s back? It was probably impossible to understand.

Madness is a contagious thing... And Mr. Nobody felt it beginning to affect him.

Although... perhaps even with such an injury, the Fool Baal was still alive.

"Nobody!" Sofien’s scream echoed in his head.

"Brother!" Noir shouted, staring in horror at the space behind him.

He spun around quickly and...

"The party continues, delicious guests!" Another set of sharp teeth sank right into his face. As it lunged to devour him.

The insides of the Fool Baal’s throat appeared before his eyes. At that moment, he thought his end had come.

*Skreech!* A long, black substance pierced the creature’s head and flung it to the ground. Splashes of blood splattered the invisible fabric of the suit.

Noir’s left hand, made up of small dark particles, stretched out several times its length and saved his life.

"Brother, are you okay?!"

Instead of answering, Mr. Nobody deactivated his invisibility and quickly drew his revolver.

He aimed the barrel straight at Noir.

"...B-brother?"

*BOOM!!!* A thunderous shot rang out, cutting through the frenzied music.

"..." Noir, terrified, pressed his palm to his ear and realized it had gone deaf for a moment.

Looking back, he saw the three Fool Baal corpses, their entire upper bodies gone—the result of the revolver shot. A bright fountain of blood spurted from the stumps of their lower bodies.

Noir could barely process that three creatures were about to pounce on him, just as that Fool Baal had been about to pounce on his partner.

"Back-to-back!" shouted Mr. Nobody.

Noir deactivated his invisibility as well, quickly unstrapped the minigun from his back, and pressed his back against his partner’s.

"W-what the hell is going on?! Everything was supposed to be clear!!"

"We’re late!" Mr. Nobody yelled. Even more grinning creatures were closing in from the forest and all around them. "The ritual was already halfway complete, and we showed up during the intermission! Or the downtime, or, fuck, the musical interlude—I don’t know!"

"Fuck..."

Noir tossed him the shotgun and, kicking the bomb capsule out of the way, spun up the minigun.

He caught the shotgun with one hand and grabbed the revolver with his left.

"Paymax, get in there and help out as much as you can! I don’t give a damn what it takes!"

A hologram of the planet, dressed in the ceremonial costume of the Fool Baals, popped out of the bracelet and grinned toothily.

"Always happy to help you, dear sacrificial lamb!"

The hundreds of creatures gradually surrounding them suggested that their madness had only just begun.

...

At the same time, near one of Concord’s walls.

The recently landed AVI was parked next to the command post. The pilot was receiving direct instructions from Sofien.

"They’re probably planning an evacuation once they succeed," Kuronuma said wistfully.

She had lived her whole life outside the city, but only now did she realize how quiet it could be here.

"..." The cat didn’t answer, gazing into the distance.

Her blue eyes seemed watchful.

"I... I’m worried."

"Meow?"

"No, not about that... I mean, not about that." The girl sighed and shook her head. "I’m worried about Señor and their mission. After all, they’re going to have to face... them."

"..."

"Sometimes I feel it inside me—the monster... the devil." Kuronuma clenched her fist. "It’s terrifying, so terrifying. What’s horror isn’t that some part inside me might be that devil... but the very essence of that devil. It’s living horror incarnate."

"..."

Kuronuma took the music player out of her pocket and looked at the cat.

"Do you feel it too? Or did you feel it, right?"

"...Meow."

"And if Señor said that the horror emanating from me is barely a tenth... Doesn’t that mean he’s about to face something ten times more terrifying? He must be really scared."

The cat didn’t answer and instead lay down next to her knees.

Kuronuma leaned against it, put on her headphones, and played one of the songs.

"Heh..." A chuckle escaped the girl’s mouth.

"Meow?"

"Very cheerful music." The girl smiled. "Cheerful and fun. I didn’t know Señor liked this kind of thing."

...

"Are you having fun, our delicious treat?! How do you like our..."

*Boom!!!* A shotgun blast tore the Fool Baal’s head into dozens of pieces. Chunks of brain and grey matter splattered everywhere like rain.

Even without a head, the creature’s body continued to move forward, still swaying and shuffling forward.

*Thud!* A metal fist, reinforced by the suit, tore through the flesh and plunged into the chest, reaching the heart.

"...!" Out of the corner of his eye, Mr. Nobody saw another silhouette, right beside him.

He swung his fist again, but...

"...Huh?"

"...Huh?"

Their fists collided against each other.

He was so lost in this madness that he couldn’t tell his partner apart from the Fool Baal.

It seemed Noir was in the same condition.

Through the red visors of their helmets, they looked at each other wearily, both sharing the same thought.

’We won’t make it out of here alive.’