I'm in Love with the Villainess!-Chapter 225: Testing Limits...?

And...

RUSTLE!

It didn’t take long for my coincidental test dummies to show up. How thoughtful of them, saving me the trouble of going out just so I could try out my new powers.

"I should probably start praying, this luck is just ridiculous..."

[Dark Step]

I teleported onto the roof. At this point, it felt like my second home, considering how often I ended up on top of them.

Still, it really was old reliable—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, as they say.

"Let’s see..."

[Soul Sight]

Seven figures...

[Photographic Memory]

And they weren’t strangers to me either. I’d seen them when Evelina and I were scouting the inner district for potential businesses we could dominate and replace.

They were workers for one of those particular establishments.

A high-class bakery that sold overpriced goods.

Well, it definitely tasted good, I can’t lie...

But... they were definitely ridiculously overpriced.

It wasn’t that hard to completely undermine their business with our lower prices.

And right now, I guess they’re not happy about us stealing their customers.

"Pathetic..."

"Pathetic indeed..."

The succubus appeared behind me, her tail curling around my arm as she stared at the men lurking in the mansion’s bushes, all dressed in black.

"Didn’t you say you’d call me when you were done with the contract~?"

"I was just about to."

"Hm, I’ll forgive you then. But can I get first dibs on who you’ll try the new stuff on? I am the one who helped with the contract..."

"Fine. Pick your poison."

She pointed at the one who clearly knew everything about the operation—the one leading them along routes they seemed to have planned out in advance.

If I had to guess, they’d scouted the area while we were out, but weren’t confident enough to set traps while we were gone.

I’ll give them props for having confidence in their own skills.

But still... the moment they decided to attack us was the moment they’d already lost.

"Him. I want him gone—and I want to see if his little friends even notice."

For a succubus, it was a pretty reasonable request, especially for someone who’d been around for more centuries than I could count. Honestly, I’d been expecting her to ask for something needlessly elaborate just for the fun of messing with them.

But in the end, she just wanted to start with the basics.

"Very well."

[Command]

The moment I activated the spell, time seemed to slow. Everything around me froze as something rose from my back—a neck that was too long, too thin, stretched past what should’ve been possible.

It slid around to my front, and at the end of it hung a face that almost looked human. The eyes sat just a bit too far apart, the smile held just a moment too long, like it understood how to imitate the expression but not why people made it.

The head of the false hydra, but now completely visible, and judging by the time stop, it was only visible to me.

"Erase him."

[Ta—ta—target—no target—same—same—same—]

A screeching voice tore through my skull as I gave the command. The grin on that thing’s face stretched wider and wider, thin trails of blood starting to seep from the corners of its mouth.

And then, the moment that smile hit its limit—

Time snapped back into place.

FWOOSH!

The hydra’s head shot forward, its neck stretching far past what I thought was possible, and swallowed the man whole in one smooth motion. No one reacted. Not even the guy standing right next to him. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Whoa... that was something..."

The succubus let out a low whistle behind me.

"You knew what happened!?"

I whipped around, her words catching me off guard. How could she possibly know what had just happened?

"Not exactly. I can tell something messed with my memories, though, but I can’t recall it clearly... which means... it worked."

"Are you satisfied with that, then?"

"Yeah. That’s enough for me. It’s not like I can enjoy the show if I can’t even see what’s happening~."

She brushed her fingers lightly across my cheek, then slipped straight through the floor, disappearing completely, probably heading back to Evelina’s room.

Good.

And since she’s not there.

I’m sure she’ll make sure any noise I make out here gets cut off before it reaches Evelina. Well... hopefully she does. And since she’s probably reading my mind right now, she should know what to do this time, even though she didn’t before.

Now...

I turned my attention back to the intruders, watching them stumble around as they tried, and failed, to find a quiet way into the mansion now that their leader was gone.

And the funniest part? They didn’t even know why they were suddenly so lost.

"Whoa... this thing’s insane," I muttered, pressing a hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh I couldn’t hold back.

I mean, who wouldn’t be thrilled with a weapon like this? I’ve got a second brain for calculations, and on top of that, invisible heads that can attack for me and can’t be perceived at all.

A true, guaranteed-hit ability.

Sadly, there aren’t many chances to really enjoy a power like this. I mean, how are you supposed to have fun when your opponents don’t even remember what you did to them?

Still...

"I think I found a way to make this fun..."

[Dark Step]

I teleported behind another one and—

[Command]

One more person swallowed up.

Then another.

And another.

Over and over, until only one was left.

I wanted to see just how strong this memory-erasing ability really was. So far, it could only be described as flawless. But there had to be a weakness somewhere. And if I was going to use this power in the future, I needed to know exactly what it was.

I teleported behind the last one still alive, tapping him on his shoulder.

"Hey..."

"W-What!?" The man turned around, and the moment he saw my face, he immediately stumbled backwards, causing his back to hit the wall.

"W-Why are you—!?"

"—Awake? I could ask you the same thing."