I Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, But Before I Realized, I Became a Capture Target
Translator: Reo
Editor: PalenMisha
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Luca POV 2 – Part 2
I had the feeling that clearing a dungeon would be a terribly hard thing to do.
There were floors that were like mazes that just went on and on. Then there were floors that were big and wide and had their own skies.
Where should we go? What path should we choose to go deeper into this dungeon?
I’d heard that if someone else got the star fragment before us, we’d be forcibly transferred out of the dungeon, but that hadn’t happened yet.
On the 24th, when I was starting to get impatient, we finally made it to the bottom floor.
We were happy to be the first ones to get there and also relieved because the task given to me by the king was to collect the fragments.
The last boss was only a B-rank and, with the three of us working together, we defeated it within a few minutes.
I sheathed my sword and went up to the altar while Miranda picked up the materials that had dropped from the boss monster.
I grabbed the star fragment off its pedestal.
This is garnet, isn’t it?
It was a beautiful stone, sparkling and deep red, and I could feel a tremendous amount of power coming from it.
So this was a star fragment.
“The more I look at it, the more profound it feels.”
“Yes, as one would expect from the world’s power. We better hurry and put it inside the bag before we lose it.”
After Noel had taken a look, I put the fragment away. Miranda, who had been collecting the dropped materials, also came our way, but… before she could step up on the altar, the door opened. The same door that had closed by itself the moment the three of us entered the room.
A lone man stepped inside. The robes he wore were filthy and a large hood covered his face from sight. But, for just a second, I could see a flash of red eyes, and I felt something incredibly corrupt coming from him.
Though I had a bad feeling about him, I still called out to the man who was approaching us.
“Sorry, the three of us have already defeated the boss. We were just about to go out with the star fragment, so could you please wait there until you’re transferred out of the dungeon?”
“Huh? What are you saying? Should be obvious imma steal it. Dark Arrow!”
The man pulled out a staff and fired a magic spell.
It happened in an instant, but we somehow managed to jump back off the altar to avoid it.
Miranda took that opportunity to swing her axe towards the man. However, not only did he avoid her attack, but he also kicked her in the torso.
“Gh…!”
“Miranda!”
Despite staggering backward, Miranda swung her axe again.
The man managed to avoid that attack as well and put some distance between the two of them.
In just those couple of seconds, I could already tell how strong our opponent was.
“… Attacking us out of nowhere like this, there should be a limit to how bad your manners are. No matter how I see it, you’re not a mage and you’re not an adventurer either. You, who the hell are you?”
“Ah? Name’s Zagan. Heard of me?” The man gave his name easily. He also took off his hood and the moment I saw what was underneath I couldn’t help but gasp.
“B-black hair.”
“It’s you, you’re that murderer Zagan!” Miranda shouted in fury.
I got why. I mean this man was that Zagan. A heinous criminal who had killed hundreds of people, with a bounty of 10 billion G… 10,000 gold coins on his head.
Furthermore, he was a dark attribute user and a member of the Dark Organization. In other words –
“So it’s true that the Dark Organization is aiming for the star fragments. I’ll never let you have them!” Noel pulled out her sword and turned to face Zagan.
Of course, I did too.
Despite it being 3-vs-1, Zagan just snorted.
“Kuhahaha! That’s right, that’s right. Come at me. Ain’t no fun killing someone who doesn’t resist!”
He took out a dagger with his left hand and immediately attacked.
So fast! In an instant, he closed the distance between us.
I managed to block the dagger with my small shield, but immediately after that my right hand, which was holding my sword, was struck by his staff.
“…!”
The force behind it was so strong I almost let go of my sword. Instead, I jumped backward, mostly because I could see Noel swinging her sword at him.
“Haah!!” Noel attacked, but Zagan blocked her blade with his staff, kicking her as hard as he could in the stomach and sending her flying.
Noel fell to the ground and collapsed. She immediately tried to get back up again, but the kick had been powerful enough to dent her armour and she couldn’t move.
What frightening strength.
Next, he easily avoided Miranda’s axe, its blade striking only the ground. Rocks were flying everywhere but a magic wall protected him.
“Lightning!” I fired a spell toward Zagan, who was about to stab Miranda with his dagger.
My lightning was right on target and I thought it would stop him, but his magic wall completely blocked my attack. In the end, I couldn’t stop him and the dagger pierced Miranda’s side.
“Gah! Ah…!!”
Zagan pulled his dagger out and mercilessly kicked her bleeding wound, sending her flying. Miranda hit the ground and lay there motionless.
He was strong. Way too strong.
With that thought in mind, I charged at him. With one of his legs still in the air, I could probably get him… or not. By the time I’d finished that thought, he’d already dodged my attack.
“Dark Ball.”
A spell was shot at close range. Then came an explosion. The impact was accompanied by intense pain. My body was strengthened and I put up a magic wall, but neither one helped. It hurt so much I thought I was going to lose consciousness.
I staggered backward but didn’t fall to the ground. Perhaps because of my pride as a prince.
I’d always been told I was special. You’re a light attribute user and you have a vast amount of mana so of course you’d be strong, Your Highness – they’d tell me. I was the strongest of the knights who started training at the same time as me and even won against my swordsmanship teacher before. But when Zagan looked at my exalted self with his murky red eyes, he just sighed.
“That’s it? You’re this weak even with all that gold hair? Whatta disappointment. You’re so weak I don’t even feel like killing you anymore. Well… guess if I killed a prince it’d get annoying later. Oi, imma let you off easy, hmm? Just hand over that fragment.”
He knew I was a prince? And the way he said that made it seem like he was plotting something. There’s no way I was going to hand the fragment over to someone like him.
My insides hurt, but I grabbed my sword once again.
“Ah?” Zagan murmured as I put some force in my legs, and then he turned up his intimidation.
The overwhelming pressure made it feel like my body, my heart, was being crushed.
“Gh.”
I couldn’t do anything about it, I just fell to my knees.
Yeah, I was no match for him. There was no way I could go against someone who was clearly stronger than Lyle-sensei, a known hero.
But I was a prince. My duty was to protect this kingdom. I couldn’t just give in to a criminal.
I stabbed my sword into the ground and tried to use it to somehow lift myself up.
Zagan clicked his tongue and pointed his staff towards Noel who was also on her knees.
My heart stopped.
He didn’t fire an attack though. Instead, something black extended from his arm. A black… tentacle? It stretched out to Noel and wrapped around her.
“Eh? W-what… N-no.”
Several tentacles pulled Noel towards Zagan, keeping her from escaping as she came into the reach of his arms.
Zagan, who at some point had put away his dagger, stroked her thigh and let out an unpleasant cackle.
“Hm, quite the looker, ain’t ya? Might just end up taking you right here, right now. How about it?”
He put his hand up her skirt.
“Heeee. Ah. Stop… N-no.”
“Stop it! I’ll give you the fragment. I’ll give it to you so please stop.”
I quickly took the star fragment out of my bag. I pushed it towards him. It rolled on the ground until it struck his foot and then stopped.
“Ha, shoulda done that from the start.” He snorted at me like I was a fool and casually bent down to pick the fragment up.
He stared at it curiously for a moment before tucking it into his pocket. Then the tentacle disappeared and Noel was released. She fell to the ground with a thud.
“Ah-ah~ whatta waste of time. You’re so fucking weak you ain’t even worth killing. With a prince like this, this country’s done for.” He walked past me and purposefully let out a nasty remark.
I didn’t have a comeback. Compared to him I was incredibly weak.
He turned his back to me and stepped onto the altar, making his way to the magic transfer circle. Then, without even bothering to look back, he disappeared.
I was made a fool of till the end.
It was extremely frustrating. Still, until now I never knew that I was this weak and pathetic.
I was applauded for having the light attribute and was strong compared to my fellow knights. But that was such a small world.
Ah, I want to be strong. Strong enough to defeat Zagan.
