The Baby Villain Dreams of Conquering the World

Chapter 35

Episode 35

Just as Flora was about to open her mouth to correct him, at least wanting to preserve her father's social dignity.

"Monsters! Monsters have appeared!"

A loud shout came from outside the tent.

'Monsters?'

Although she thought monsters could appear since it was the Demon Forest, she didn't expect them to show up so suddenly.

"What is it? They said we had to move for another day before reaching the area where monsters appear."

Unlike the flustered Basilian, Flora's face lit up and she sprang up from the bed.

'Can I see them up close?'

Just as she was about to dash outside, Basilian grabbed her firmly.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? I'm worried you might cause an accident. But it should be safe here, so stay put."

"People will think I'm an accident-prone kid if they hear you."

Flora felt wronged.

Did he not remember that she healed and helped him when he was injured?

"I'll stay still."

"I don't believe you."

Saying that, Basilian reached his arms around Flora from behind, placed his hands on her stomach, and held them together.

Suddenly held in an embrace and unable to move around, Flora couldn't help but pout.

"I know you have mysterious powers. I don't know how an orphanage child like you came to have divine power, but this isn't a place for you to step forward. It's dangerous, so please stay put. I'll let you go when the monsters are gone."

"Okay."

Since he was persuading her this much, she couldn't refuse.

Thinking that, Flora comfortably leaned her head against his chest, deciding to make herself comfortable since she was already being held.

Outside, the sounds of monsters' cries and people's rough shouts were already echoing loudly.

'The monsters' cries are more numerous.'

Listening only to the sounds, she didn't hear any voices filled with despair desperately calling for the wounded.

It seemed the Lucifer Knight Order and this mercenary band worked quite well together.

"Aren't you scared at all?"

"Huh?"

The small body holding Flora had started trembling at some point.

His face, staring at the tent door with a frightened expression, looked unfamiliar.

Had she been too unafraid?

It certainly would seem strange for a mere 4-year-old child to remain calm with monsters right in front of them.

Seeing Flora deliberately make a crying face, Basilian bit his lower lip hard.

"Yeah, you must be scared. But I'll protect you."

'Even though you're trembling sweetly.'

Humans were truly fascinating.

Was it an unavoidable biological instinct to protect a young individual?

'To be weak towards an even younger human, despite being young yourself.'

Flora sighed quietly inside and slightly closed her eyes.

Since it looked like she was avoiding out of fear, Basilian freed one hand and grabbed his sword placed beside the bed.

The mercenary band members, to whom he owed his life, had accepted him as an errand boy when he said he wanted to be a mercenary, asking what a child would do with a sword.

Although he never had a chance to draw it, he had still observed and learned a lot from the side.

The red gem resembling a ruby on the sword hilt shone brightly, as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Basilian drew the sword from its scabbard with one hand and pointed it towards the tent entrance.

'I have to protect her. That's the only way we both survive.'

Thinking he would rush out and stab the sword the moment a monster invaded.

Unlike the terrified Basilian, Flora, with her eyes closed, was focusing on her own body.

'How much demonic power can I use?'

As she concentrated on the abyss, she could see the size of the vessel containing the demonic power within her body.

'About the size of an adult's teacup, I suppose.'

With this much, she could probably drive away about five or six monsters.

'No, maybe only four, since Basilian might get hurt. The demonic power is still too insufficient.'

Although the demonic power was filled to the brim of the teacup, the size of the vessel containing it was no different from before.

'But at least the recovery of demonic power should be fast since it's the Demon Forest.'

A quiet silence flowed between the two, who were dreaming different dreams.

After holding their breath for a long while like that, the monsters' cries subsided, and the people's energetic voices grew even louder.

"It seems the situation is wrapping up."

When the busy voices of people starting to organize the situation were heard, Basilian finally let out a sigh of relief and lowered the sword in his hand.

And at that moment, a huge scream began to echo through the forest.

The quiet flat ground began to rumble as if a boulder had been slammed into the earth.

Agh, ugh, dangerous, block it.

The tangled voices of chaos grew louder and closer, and the moment Basilian gripped his sword again.

'Wow.'

With a fierce wind, the tent flew away completely.

A growling cry sounded right in front of them.

The sword Basilian had thrust forward rapidly was trembling relentlessly.

A monster shaped like a rotten piece of wood was looking down at the two.

It was three times larger than Basilian's body.

On the upper part of the wooden pillar, there were eyes, a nose, and a mouth like a human face, and the corners of the monster's mouth, having discovered the two children, tore upwards into a long slit.

Around them, mercenaries who had tried to block the monster lay scattered, injured.

The monster was looking down at the two children with an expression that seemed to mock them, waving its long, root-like stems high in the air as if testing them.

'That is?'

She had never imagined a monster mocking her, and it felt like a huge shock, as if she'd been hit on the back of the head.

Flora stared at the monster for a while and admitted that it was different from the monsters she knew.

'It's the same kind as those strange monsters. But it's a bit of a stretch to say it evolved. Hmm, it seems a bit corrupted, somehow.'

The monster before her was filled with a sticky, unpleasant power, with a turbid force mixed here and there into the pure demonic energy.

'Will my demonic power work on it?'

It seemed possible to disrupt its concentration, but anything more than that was impossible.

"Don't worry. I, I'll protect you."

The owner of the voice, terrified to the point that it was a miracle he hadn't fainted, still hadn't put down his sword even in this situation.

The moment the sword blade reflected in the moonlight shone brightly, the monster's roots charged towards the two.

'It's better to run for now.'

Just as she was gathering demonic power in her hand, thinking of escaping with Basilian.

Suddenly, Basilian pushed Flora back and bravely charged towards the monster.

"Run away now!"

Wh-what kind of stupid suicide attempt is that!

That monster was no mere intermediate-level monster.

Having realized the monster's grade was different from ordinary monsters, Flora was horrified and tried to grab Basilian, but unfortunately, her arms were too short.

"Ba, Basi, you fool!"

Flora's desperate voice didn't reach Basilian.

The monster's long root slammed down on Basilian, and the boy's body flew through the air in a parabolic arc at high speed.

Basilian's body hit a tree trunk and fell to the ground.

Horrified, Flora ran towards the tree where Basilian had fallen.

"Ar, are you okay?"

"Ugh."

He groaned in pain with an expression of frustration at having been thrown back without even scratching the monster.

'You should be grateful you're not dead.'

Grrgle, grrgle.

The monster's joyful laughter began to get closer to the two.

Having become perfect targets, it was clear the monster would chase them to the end even if they ran.

"You... You at least, run away now."

Basilian coughed roughly and pushed Flora away.

"Hurry!"

'What should I do?'

Flora couldn't leave the young boy who had stepped forward to protect her.

'How foolish. Just because I've lived closely with humans, have I really become human myself?'

Seeing the young boy like this, the thought that she had to resolve this situation somehow kept dominating her mind.

But no matter how much she thought, no good ideas came to her. She was caught between a rock and a hard place.

The mercenary band members who could help them were all injured, so she couldn't expect external help.

If this continues, everyone will die.

'I underestimated the Demon Forest. Do I have no choice but to use my last resort?'

The vessel containing the demonic power within her body was the result of her gathering and forming it into a single entity from the moment she began to sense demonic power.

Fortunately, after creating the vessel, demonic power slowly began to gather in it, and until now, she had never once used the demonic power used to create the vessel itself.

Normally, she just borrowed the demonic power floating around her, or if that wasn't enough, she only used the demonic power gathered inside the vessel made of demonic power.

'If it breaks, I'll have to gather it again from the beginning, but there's no choice.'

Flora's golden eyes began to shine with a strange light.