Destined Villain's Life
Chapter 21: [21] A trip to the underworld {1}

Chapter 21: [21] A trip to the underworld {1}

"The magical sandstorm’s contamination has been removed. You can leave anytime now," the doctor said before leaving the infirmary.

Shrouded in silence, Zick sighed again internally. As he moved toward the dormitory, the other cadets staring at him went unnoticed. The information about the recent assignment had already spread across the gold and lower-rank classes.

His strength was already above that of last year’s students, and such rumors were spreading. However, the admiration from others didn’t bring any joy to Zick.

All his strength was laid bare—nothing was hidden, not even the smallest thing. It was unknown what Ethereal would do next after finding out. Zick didn’t feel embarrassed by his dramatic actions. As you grow up, other people’s opinions of you start to become irrelevant.

More than anything, losers don’t have the right to complain about the winners. Especially when Zick had crushed all five of them so easily.

’I need another identity...’

Zick wasn’t consumed by confusion for long. He began thinking about his future actions. Entering his room, Zick locked the door behind him.

Lying on the bed, he covered his eyes with his elbow.

’I can’t grow slowly like I had planned while wasting my time at the academy. Personal strength growth can wait; I need more manpower. If I can’t build a strong enough organization before my final year, I will be wholly reliant on my father...’

It would be no different from before the regression if he only relied on his father’s forces. He would definitely die. The Ethereal weren’t just good at parasitizing; their strength was monstrous too. There would be many people appearing in the Ethereal who could single-handedly destroy this continent.

There weren’t any of them right now, but Zick was still cautious. They could arrive at any moment.

’Aster can wait too... I wanted to see what the reward system would provide by marrying a mythical grade, but... never mind. I should focus on just suppressing her for now... I can think about her end later.’

Zick didn’t want to think about Aster; he was afraid of another seizure rising.

Thinking of Aster...

’...Why is she cured? System, answer me.’

[Reality elements have been detected around Aster’s body. Her body was modified from the root to clear out the poison.]

’Reality magic?!’

Zick’s eyes widened. He knew of this element. It would be discovered around five years from now, becoming the strongest element a magician could wield. It was also the element proclaimed to have been discovered by Ellen.

’...Did Ellen also join hands with Ethereal in the future?’

The more Zick learned, the more he felt an invisible pressure rise in his chest.

Ellen becoming the magic tower lord might have something to do with Ethereal too. The current magic tower lord seemed to be just 200 years old; Ethereal or Ellen most likely killed him.

From a broader perspective, the lord of the magic tower held more power than a senator. There was only one magic tower, where all the wizards from around the world gathered. Ruling it meant having control over their lives to an extent.

’It hasn’t happened yet... I have to figure out how to bring Ellen to my side.’

If Ellen joined Ethereal, there was a high chance Zick would die even with the system. He knew her strength after mastering reality spells.

’I don’t want to eliminate her... So don’t make me do it,’ Zick gritted his teeth.

There was no hatred between them now, nor had there been in the past. It was better to say there was no relation whatsoever. Killing her would be an extreme choice, even for Zick. He wasn’t a murderer by any means—he only did what was necessary.

However, he didn’t claim to be innocent either. His hands were covered in the blood of more than a hundred people.

"....."

Opening the system, Zick was greeted by a few notifications.

[100 destiny points have been used to restore mana.]

[Name: Ellen Jolheim

Destiny grade: Legendary

Destiny: Loved by mana - just by existing, her mana will grow continuously.

Favorability: 30 (Friendly)]

[You have obtained 1000 destiny points.]

’So her favorability increased by 10 points... More than that, system, can you cure my mindless seizure?’

[Ding! It is possible. 200,000 destiny points are needed. Is the host sure?]

’...Why so high?’

[It has been detected that a demon larvae egg has fused with the host’s soul. Any modifications to the soul require high consumption.]

’Demon larvae egg? Fused with my soul? Where did it come from, system?’

[It naturally traveled to this world before the war between the demon race four years in the future.]

"Wait, if it came from the future... what will happen if it hatches now?" Zick’s face became solemn.

[It will take over your body and try to create the gateway for the demon race to enter this world.]

Instantly, Zick felt his mood drop to a chilling point.

However, everything seemed to make sense in his mind. There had been a foreign world invasion when he suffered from the strange symptoms of madness. It felt disgusting knowing that some foreign egg was stuck to his soul.

’So this is how they made their way to this world. But how long will it take for this larvae egg to hatch?’

[The larvae egg in the host’s soul has already been wasted. It cannot hatch, which makes it automatically fuse with the host’s soul.]

’I see... so it’s already dead. Well, it still left me with this mindless seizure, though.’

200,000 destiny points weren’t something he could afford at the moment. Pushing away everything, he decided to call Uncle Jane again. Tomorrow was the weekend, and Zick didn’t want to waste it.

Being passive in his current situation would only make facing Ethereal harder in the future.

He wanted to create a new account in the [End’s Wing], a network that connected the entire underworld. It contained everything you could or couldn’t find in a normal market.

A recommendation was needed to join, though. So Zick could only ask Uncle Jane to make one for him.

’...I can’t use this account to post commissions.’ Zick coldly stared at his phone.

There was a high chance Uncle Jane would keep an eye on this account. Zick just wanted to learn about the current situation of the underworld.

It could be said that this place was the only place Ethereal couldn’t properly conquer in his past life.

A place where finding someone seemed harder than finding a needle in a haystack.

And there was another objective Zick had set for himself—Ellen.

It wasn’t due to the discovery of her association with Ethereal in the future. He would have aimed at her either way since Aster was now an impossible target.

Zick wasn’t joking when he said he would use any possible means to take down Ethereal. This mysterious system was his only trump card at the moment.

He needed to woo Ellen.

’I should start by gathering information about her,’ Zick thought coldly. He knew practically nothing about her personally, so it was natural to tackle this first.

"...I should place a commission since I have an account." Zick smiled slightly.

[Personal information about Ellen Jolheim, even her slightest habits. Reward: 5,000 wing points.]

Such a post was published by Zick’s new account.

Wing points were a private currency, with a conversion rate of 1:10 to the continent’s currency.

As it stands, getting information through the system was too costly, especially when it came to people with high destiny.