The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings-Chapter 235: Day - 2: The Case of East Sea Incident [2]

"Why her?"

"Wait, who is she?"

After some time passed and the numerous questions from Cyan and Ethan about his skill had died down, Leon explained his overall plan.

"Ugh..." Cyan twisted his face after Leon was finished. "Don’t you think it’s too... evil?"

"What? How is this even remotely close to evil?" Leon’s eyes twitched at his words. "Don’t back down now, this is one of the fun ways to utilize this situation."

His plan was a mess! Cyan couldn’t believe that he—Leon Valentine, the Rank-2 of his class, had just explained that!

"....You are a... haah.... I am speechless." Cyan looked at Ethan, who for some reason was staring down in a thinking posture. "Hey, don’t tell me you are considering it?"

Ethan glanced at him and scratched his cheek. "Well... it is pretty solid if we think for a second—"

"Huh?" Cyan lightly slapped his forehead. "You know what? I understand his sudden transformation into a... girl. But! But! How can we really handle a hundred twenty guards? I mean, it’s absurd no matter how strong one is."

"You can leave this to me," Leon said confidently, her newly feminine voice smooth and steady.

"Look here..." Cyan finally spoke, rubbing his face in disbelief.

He looked at Leon first.

Then slowly turned toward Ethan.

"Oi. Why are you staying quiet?" Cyan snapped. "Say something. You’re supposed to be the sensible one here. You’re the one who should be leading!"

Ethan let out a long sigh.

"Believe me," he said, scratching his cheek lightly, "he can construct a better plan than I can."

Cyan froze.

"...You’re serious?"

Ethan didn’t answer immediately. His gaze shifted back to Leon.

For some reason, Leon was now standing there in the appearance of a Swordmaiden. The armor hugged her form neatly, practical yet refined. Long silver hair framed her face, and the confidence she carried made it feel natural. Too natural.

Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly.

’So he even has a skill like this...’

And yet—

Despite how much mana something like this should consume, Leon looked completely fine. There was not a single ounce of hesitation on his face.

She was smiling behind the mask. And it was a confident smile.

’Lumina Elizabeth Dare...’ Ethan thought quietly. ’If I remember correctly, he met her inside the book.’

His brow furrowed.

’Did something happen back then?’

He had noticed it before. That strange ease Leon had after their last visit to the Library of Astral Tale.

But Ethan had never pressed him on it.

Back when they first met, Ethan had barely known him. About the layers Leon kept hidden to himself. About just how much he concealed behind his calculated smiles and half-truth facade.

He still didn’t know him.

Ethan exhaled softly, then spoke.

"He’s right. You know, you didn’t explain to us how you’re going to dominate all those guards," he said, glancing carefully at Leon. "But... knowing you, the plan isn’t about overpowering them, is it?"

Leon smirked at Ethan’s words. She crossed her arms and gave him a small wink.

"Indeed. We will steal one of their item as well!"

"...What the hell!" Cyan snapped his neck toward Leon so fast it made a cracking sound.

"Haaaah... I knew it." Ethan chuckled. "Alright then, I agree with his plan. Also... Cyan."

Ethan looked at him with serious eyes. "Trust him. I didn’t invite him for no reason."

Cyan looked at Ethan, at those ocean-blue eyes which were gleaming with confidence.

Leon, when he was explaining the plan to them, didn’t even stutter for a second. He said it so casually, as if he knew everything would work out for him. Even though it would only be he who would do all the work.

Even now, wearing the appearance of a maiden, Leon’s facial expression remained the same as before.

"Haah... alright then," Cyan finally agreed. "But if I see you getting in trouble, I won’t follow your so-called plan. You better get this through your head."

Leon smiled at them both. "Alright. Fine with me."

There won’t be any failure.

After making a little preparation, Leon went out of the room all alone. He had changed his clothing to a simple tucked-in white shirt and latex pants with a brass-buckled leather belt. He tied his hair into a ponytail, letting it rest against his back.

Leon looked around him.

The room he was in before was actually a storage room where mostly wine and fish were kept for the sailors and laborers. Guards didn’t usually come here, as it was most of the time accessed by the ship’s laborers.

He took a few steps forward and examined the surroundings. There were several barrels on the floor, some intact and lined up at every corner, and some broken into pieces as if someone had hammered them with a heavy object.

"This must be the dining area..." Leon muttered. He kept walking, observing the place with keen intelligence.

No living person was here at this time. Leon glanced up at the roof.

He could hear several footsteps above, and people shouting at each other. The cargo ship jolted backward.

"It’s moving..."

He looked back at the room, toward where Ethan and Cyan were stationed.

"Haaah..." He let out a sigh, thinking...

’I will do my part. I hope you do yours.’

After that, Leon’s face, which looked identical to Lumina’s, turned serious. His red eyes glowed faintly in the dim light as he activated one of his skills.

[Mana Sense]

In an instant, his surroundings came to life. White, blue, red, yellow, green, and violet lights flickered everywhere, some concentrated in a single place while others dispersed throughout the space.

He glanced at the concentrated zone first. Several barrels in the corner held an exceptionally dense amount of mana.

Leon’s heels tapped against the wet floor as he slowly walked toward one of the barrels.

He stopped.

Just a few centimeters away from it. From the outside, the barrel looked wet.

He reached for the cap, and with just one shot, he clicked it open.

Bzzzzzzzz—!!

The buzzing sight of a barrel filled with white maggots was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. One half-cut head, almost split apart, its contents being fed upon by the writhing maggots, came into Leon’s sight first.

He let go of the cap. And proceed to open the barrel next to it.

Bzzzzzzzzz—!!

A similar skin-crawling sound came from the half-cut head and other body parts.

Almost every barrel with the densest mana here was like this.

"I was right," Leon muttered to himself.

A slight smirk appeared on his face as he covered the barrels back up.

Leon’s prediction was correct, and the time and date matched as well.

"Well, Madam Ayaka," Leon said, sighing, almost enjoying himself, "be glad that I am on your ship."

’Haru, I am done.’

"That fast?" Leon raised his brows at Rumi’s words.

’Here, you can take a look,’ she said, as she injected all her findings into Leon’s head in a single go.

In an instant, Leon’s head was filled with information crossing several facial features, mana signatures, mana core ranks, levels, body conditions, affinities, and their current positions above the deck.

If it were any normal human, their brain would have exploded from processing this amount of data in a millisecond. But Leon, however, was not only fine, he also arranged all the information in a structured manner and memorized the core details of it.

’Eighty out of a hundred and twenty...’

That was the total number of pirates hiding among the guards after coldly killing the majority of them and concealing their bodies inside the barrels.

Leon knew about this even before teleporting onto the ship.

It was a well-known incident that occurred in the East Ocean of the Sea of Mist. One of the greatest loots of the current century, orchestrated by none other than ’Captain Blackscar,’ one of the ’Seven Sea Constellations,’ the greatest pirate rulers of the sea domain.

The rules of the land didn’t apply to the ocean. But despite that, the ’Seven Sea Constellations’ held full control over every inch of it. They decided the rules that were followed by everyone else to this day.

They were strong. Insanely strong. Almost all seven of them were either white core or beyond. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

And one of the Seven Sea Constellations, working under Captain Blackscar, was onboard the ship Leon was standing on.

Leon looked toward the side where a broad staircase leading to the uppermost deck was attached. He didn’t go there. Instead, he pulled a barrel closer and sat on it, placing both his legs on the table.

He took out his brass revolver and filled all the chambers with his custom-formulated bullets.

He waited as the ship drifted farther out.

As the ship left the harbor and moved well beyond the mainland, to the point where it was barely visible, Leon stood up from his seat.

He walked toward the staircase and kicked the door open with a bang.

BAAAM—!

The door slammed open onto the outer deck as heavy wind brushed past Leon’s long hair and flowing dress.

At that moment, every guard patrolling the area paused in their tracks.

Holding the revolver in one hand, Leon scratched his head with the brass portion and looked toward one particular person among the group.

He squinted his eyes slightly and said, mimicking Lumina’s voice,

"The moon sure is beautiful. Don’t you all think?"

Before the guards could react, or even raise their weapons toward the white hair maiden, Leon’s title activated.

[Heir of the Crimson Moon]