The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 121
“…Have you already solved the disappearance case?”
The Emperor, astonished, asked Roxelyn, who had come to see him in less than two weeks.
“Yes.”
He had thought it would take at least several months.
It was only natural.
The Emperor could not leave the matter solely in their hands, so he had mobilized Labyth.
Since the opponent was a criminal with an Abyss, it also provided justification for sending them out.
“…The arson case and the disappearance case are related, you say.”
“Yes, sire.”
“…And you have a solution for the epidemic that is spreading now.”
“Yes, sire.”
Roxelyn answered the Emperor’s questions one by one. Then she continued.
“Marquis Gerun personally interrogated the criminals and discovered the missing persons at the locations he visited.”
Roxelyn calmly stated the facts.
“The missing persons were mostly used for experiments, and most of them have already passed away.”
“Experiments…?”
“Yes.”
Roxelyn handed the documents she had brought to the Emperor.
“They were conducting experiments to create living Abyss weapons.”
“…Experiments to create Abyss weapons?”
“Yes, since the Abyss often awakens in extreme situations. Anyone would awaken if they were about to be burned alive.”
The Emperor frowned slightly.
“So you’re saying they created extreme situations to force people to awaken their Abyss?”
“In simple terms, yes.”
The Emperor clicked his tongue.
With a mixed expression of absurdity and annoyance, he opened his mouth.
“That’s ridiculous. If you lock someone up and burn them to death, the Abyss dies too. The Abyss is not some great omnipotent thing…”
“But very rarely, those with strong Abysses survive.”
When Roxelyn interrupted and added her explanation, the Emperor frowned.
“The outcome of an Abyss versus Abyss battle can depend on compatibility, but it also varies with the ability of the Abyss.”
“Indeed.”
The Emperor nodded at Roxelyn’s reasonable words.
“It’s natural for water to extinguish fire, but someone with a stronger fire Abyss than a water Abyss can overcome it…”
“You’re well informed. Then you must also know how rare that probability is.”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re saying the culprit did all this for that slim chance of awakening…?”
The Emperor understood the situation well.
“Yes.”
“And the reason for committing such a heinous act, killing thousands, was merely for that?”
“Because one powerful soldier is more efficient than a hundred mediocre ones.”
Roxelyn nodded again as she answered.
‘In my world, a child like that did survive in Landarin.’
The sole survivor.
And that sole survivor soon disappeared.
Later, he emerged as one of the Reapers loyal to Makruxa.
It was the story of the boy Gerun had found in Landarin and was protecting in his mansion after hearing Roxelyn’s words.
Had Roxelyn not been able to stop the rampage in Landarin, that boy would have become the sole survivor in the ashes of the city and eventually a Reaper of Makruxa.
In Roxelyn’s world, the boy was born with a powerful wind Abyss.
It was the wind that had protected the boy amidst the flames.
The reason King of Makruxa remained elusive until the very end, despite the large-scale extermination effort, was thanks to the two boys who were brainwashed to sacrifice their lives for him and always stayed by his side.
One of them was the boy with the wind Abyss from Landarin.
Therefore, the person who later killed such a King and took over Makruxa was truly remarkable in many ways.
‘Anyway, with this, I’ve roughly severed all of the King of Makruxa’s limbs.’
She eliminated the opportunities the original ‘King’ of Makruxa would have obtained and cut off Makruxa’s means of making money.
By pushing for an alliance with Kaluta as a strong ally of the Imperial Family, she removed the risk of war.
The longer the preparations take, the less likely it was for them to reveal themselves easily.
“Even if you do such things, there’s nothing to gain. So why on earth did they commit such insane acts?”
“What if I told you there’s an Abyss that can make a crude prophecy? A prophecy that will inevitably come true.”
“A prophecy?”
The Emperor expressed his curiosity at Roxelyn’s words.
“What if the prophecy was something like a revolutionary storm being born in the fires of hell?”
She quickly added.
Revolution always implies a change in the throne, so all they could create was hellfire.
“If the prophecy does not prove wrong, a storm will be born from the flames. We just don’t know what kind of flames they are.”
“…So they started the fire themselves?”
“Yes.”
“By burning down entire villages?”
“Hellfire isn’t the same as a small spark, after all, sire.”