The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Chapter 249: Culling [1]

The news channels were flooded with reports from all across the world.

The damage sustained by Syma was truly massive, but that was within my expectations.

All the employees that had been killed were the regular employees of the guild.

None of the D.X. members had been stationed at any of the guild’s or the bank’s branches.

Repairing the damaged infrastructure and all other expenses that would be required after the operation were massive, but I had already begun to receive returns on my investments.

Hearing the declaration given by No. 8, I couldn’t help but smile.

That guy was surely a good actor.

The Faceless.

The name had been given to him in the game after the discovery of his Original ability, the one which allowed him to change his appearance at will.

Though there were many limitations on its use, No. 8 had used the ability to avoid being caught by the authorities.

He had always kept switching his workplace... working for some noble house or the other.

Sometimes, he would even work for the royal families and the major powers in the world.

Working for them... No. 8 would slowly gather all the information that he had to know about the House that he worked for, and then—

The poor souls would experience some of the most brutal betrayals of their lives.

No. 8 had once even married a royal, and then managed to secure some mythical-grade artifact from the royal treasury, before killing his wife in cold blood.

Even the cults weren’t spared from his deceit.

With his smooth-talking skills, the guy had always been able to infiltrate any organization or noble house.

But communication skills weren’t his only strong forte.

No. 8 had detailed knowledge of economics, politics, and strategies, that made him an indispensable asset to any major or minor power and helped him to quickly secure their trust—while becoming a core member of their hierarchy.

His skills were top-notch... well that was clear from his interview itself.

’You know the answer. All of you do.’

Heh.

There couldn’t be any line better than that to end the interview.

But, despite No. 8’s capabilities, he was and had always been a double-edged sword.

There was a high chance of him using D.X. and betraying us at the last moment.

Though the guy had joined us, finding the concept of the organization interesting, I had managed to put a leash on him using some information that I had from the game.

That had decreased the chances of him betraying us... in the case he wanted to avoid mutual destruction.

But—

The probability had been decreased, not eliminated.

There was still a fair chance of betrayal... though knowing No. 8’s behaviour that I had managed to analyse with the existing information... I didn’t think he would be so short-sighted and try to loot us.

After all, he would gain more from staying with me, than going against me.

At least that was my basic logic and assumption.

There could be some variables in it, depending on No. 8’s state of mind.

If somehow he were to go crazy... then there was only so much that I could do.

Still... the risk was manageable—

As the gains I had received due to No. 8 till date were far too many compared to the possible risks that I may suffer for involving him in my plans.

Haa...

There was still some time before the cults would take the blame for the attack.

Eloran Alchemists’—the guild that was still ahead of Syma would suffer the most from the allegations that would soon be thrown in their direction.

Still... even if the cults took the blame, neither the authorities nor the major powers were foolish enough to immediately believe everything said by some group of lunatics.

Investigations would be done, and Syma would soon be questioned.

There were many coincidences during the attack, but a perfect story had been made for each of them.

There were no loopholes in the plan, yet I knew that not everything would go according to my way.

My experience with the headmaster and Antra, had given me a very decisive lesson.

There were bigger fish out there in the world... and I wasn’t going to underestimate them.

That was why it was now time to tie one of the loose ends that I had kept ignoring for a while.

The operation had been over and so had the need for an excess amount of troops.

All the missions going forward would require only the elites and the trusted Numbers among the organization.

It was time... for the culling to begin.

***

"Don’t be jealous."

"..."

"You will advance someday."

"Sure."

No. 121 didn’t pay much attention to his friend, who had been flexing his newfound strength for quite some time.

Luckily, the blood from the Diamond 1 vampire had been useful enough for No. 120.

He had now become a Platinum 4... that too with minimal effort.

No. 121 wasn’t jealous, he was just... tired of the constant psychological harassment that he kept receiving from No. 120.

Besides No. 120 and No. 121, all the other Numbers who had participated in the operation had been summoned to the training grounds.

And... they weren’t the only ones.

Many more new faces were seen... those that hadn’t participated in the operation, yet were part of D.X. and had designated numbers for their place in the hierarchy.

The entire area had now been covered in a sea of black which was far denser than when the Numbers were assembled before the operation.

After all... the entirety of the ten thousand Numbers were present at the moment.

Not all of them were specialized in combat, as many were informants that were spread out across the world, providing intelligence to D.X. and helping to strengthen its legal as well as underworld network.

Though the numerous spies that were planted throughout all the major as well as minor powers and organizations in the world, including the authorities, weren’t present, as their presence here could give away their identity.

The spies needed to blend in with the people of the respective power that they were tasked to infiltrate, and their absence, however short it may be, could have aroused suspicion.

Still... having ten thousand people under direct command was an achievement in itself, as most of these individuals were former criminals... well they still committed crimes.

"Killing those fools was surely fun!"

"Hehe... You should have seen me. That woman, ah, she was just..."

The Numbers kept discussing their exploits, while some boasted about the gains that they had made over the short span of the operation.

Though everyone was restricted from lowering their masks and acting within the given commands, as indiscipline could have led to a grand failure for D.X... still, for many of the Numbers, killing people without fearing the consequences was a pleasure in itself.

Then there were discussions about the dismantling of the Frost troops by one of the Numbers.

Though no one knew his identity... from the various news reports that were floating around, it was easy to fact-check that all the reinforcements sent by House Frost were knocked down.

Not killed, but subdued by one of their own.

No one knew that it was Arthur who had done it.

Still, the news had made everyone assume that one of the top 10 Numbers was behind the attack.

That had once again increased the mystery of D.X. for these criminals who were shown and always felt the might of D.X. from time to time.

The other topic of gossip among the criminals was the killing of the Dracoth troops.

The Numbers present at the scene had confirmed the rumours themselves.

A Diamond 1, along with several other Platinum cores, had been defeated and ultimately killed.

That had led to everyone knowing more about the top 200 Numbers, especially No. 120, who was known to have drunk the blood of a Diamond 1, while being a Platinum 3... well now he had evolved to become a Platinum 4—

Which resulted in increased jealousy from others, as everyone envied the ability of vampires to be able to directly increase their cultivation by devouring blood.

And not everyone was lucky enough to be able to enjoy gaining a boost in power by devouring the blood of a Diamond 1... an existence that was still a myth for many.

Even reaching the Platinum rank was one of the most difficult hurdles of the cultivation world... so it wasn’t difficult for anyone to imagine the challenges that one might face while advancing to become a Diamond core.

"Attention!"

The order was relayed, making everyone silent.

The soldiers waited for the higher-ups to arrive, and soon the top leadership of Syma walked up the stage.

Even after everything, no one could get used to a Gold core... a kid no less, being superior in the hierarchy than an Immortal.

Maybe... being a Frost came with its own set of benefits.