How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 28

Episode 28 – Let’s Negotiate

Clang—!

The mont our daggers clashed, my opponent lost his grip. The lingering paralysis had impaired his movents.

I kicked him to the ground and pressed my dagger against his throat.

Although I had managed to subdue him, the situation still wasn’t looking good.

I glanced around the forest.

I could feel several presences rapidly closing in.

There were quite a few of them.

Should I run?

But after surveying the area, I realized it was already too late.

‘Eight? Nine?’

Hidden among the trees, they were positioning themselves under the cover of darkness.

North, south, east, and west.

In an instant, I was surrounded from all directions.

If they had survived the chira assault, they were no ordinary fighters.

It wasn’t just the numbers that were concerning—fighting them seed impossible, and even escaping looked unlikely.

My face hardened.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

After the chira storm, now I had to deal with Crux.

When would I ever get a mont’s peace?

The encirclent slowly tightened.

It felt like an imminent clash was unavoidable, but surprisingly, they stopped just short of engaging.

They remained stationed around , observing.

Why?

I turned my gaze toward the man I had pinned beneath my dagger.

Is it because of him?

If there was a question, there was only one way to find out.

I pressed the tip of my dagger a little deeper into his neck. The mont a groan escaped from his lips—

“If you kill him, you die too.”

A voice echoed from the forest, laced with nace. It carried the weight of restrained fury, as if they were seething at my actions.

It was a savage threat, but instead of being intimidated, I smirked.

After surviving death a few tis, it seems you grow bolder. Threats like these didn’t faze anymore.

“So, before I kill him—everyone, co out.”

“......”

“There are nine of you, right? Stop hiding like cowards and show yourselves. If I catch you sneaking around, I can’t promise your friend here will survive.”

I heard whispers and murmurs.

It sounded like they were exchanging opinions, unsure of how to proceed.

This told they didn’t have a leader, which made even more suspicious.

Is the man I captured their leader?

If so, he must be a commander-level figure.

I glanced at the man beneath , who was staring up at with a tight-lipped expression, lost in thought.

What’s on his mind?

My thoughts were interrupted as figures began to erge from the shadows.

One by one, dark silhouettes appeared from the treetops, between rocks, and among the trees.

There were exactly ten of them.

I focused on a lean, masked figure erging from the rocks.

‘There was one more.’

This was the only one I hadn’t sensed earlier. Either his stealth skills were exceptional, or he was incredibly powerful—neither option was good news.

I let out a bitter laugh as I surveyed the group.

‘Damn it, this is overkill.’

I sensed the flow of mana radiating from every direction.

That ant every one of them was at least First-Star level or higher.

‘If I fight, I die. If I run, I still probably die... Who the hell are these guys?’

I had initially thought they might be a tracking unit sent by the organization. But based on their power, that seed unlikely.

Seven assassins had been deployed to kill Kal Blazer, the Mad Butcher. The force in front of far exceeded that, which ant there was no way they’d send this many just to eliminate a newbie like .

Who are they, really?

“Hey.”

The one-ard man beneath spoke again.

I found it hard to ignore him this ti and looked down at him.

“Let’s negotiate.”

“Negotiate?”

“Yeah. But first...”

He glanced around, then gestured subtly to his comrades.

Hand signals.

I recognized them—they were Crux signals. That caught off guard even more.

An assassination order?

“Kill them.”

The man’s command made flinch, and I instinctively raised my dagger. But the order wasn’t directed at .

As soon as he gave the signal, the assassins sprang into action.

They scattered in all directions, moving like lightning.

Muffled screams filled the air as the assassins began slaughtering the unconscious bandits scattered around the area.

I stared at the man beneath , utterly bewildered.

“...What the hell are you doing?”

“Helping you, obviously. They were just lying there like idiots, so I figured I’d take care of them for you. Lucky , huh?”

“......”

“What? Don’t tell you were actually debating whether to kill them or not?”

He chuckled, as if the thought amused him.

“You’re not cut out for survival if you hesitate like that. What were you thinking? That you could let them live and everything would be fine?”

“Now only you know my secret.”

“Killing wouldn’t be a smart move. I don’t plan to tell anyone about your ability. Why would I? What’s in it for ?”

The stench of blood filled the air.

The assassins regrouped, holding their bloodstained daggers.

Now, the one-ard man was the only person left who knew about my abilities.

I quickly assessed the situation.

‘Neither running nor fighting is a good option right now.’

Since I was trapped within the magic circle, escaping them was impossible.

For now, my best move was to hold my position—since I still had their leader as a hostage.

“What do you want?”

“Like I said, let’s negotiate. But first, there’s sothing I need to clear up.”

“And what’s that?”

“I need to confirm who you are.”

For the first ti, I saw a flicker of tension in his expression. His gaze carried both expectation and anxiety.

“Are you... with the Master?”

“What?”

“How did you find us? There’s no way Crux’s intelligence network could’ve tracked us.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You seriously don’t know who I am?”

The man studied my reaction closely.

A one-ard Crux assassin...

Suddenly, a thought hit like lightning.

Wait... could it be?!

My stunned silence must have given away, as the man narrowed his eyes. His gaze dropped to the dagger in my hand.

“That dagger—it bears the mark of a captain. There’s no way a green rookie like you should have it. I’ll ask you one more ti, and I want an honest answer.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Whose dagger is that?”

“It belonged to the captain I served under.”

“So, you killed him?”

Sharp bastard.

That’s what he had been contemplating all along.

And from the conversation so far, it seed like he wasn’t exactly on good terms with Crux anymore.

“Are there any other survivors from Crux?”

“I’m the only one left in Laup Forest. The rest are dead.”

“Who killed them?”

“I did.”

“......”

He fell silent, then asked quietly:

“Why?”

“Because they fed a parasite.”

“...A parasite?”

“Boom is inside .”

I pressed my hand lightly over my heart, causing the man to let out a low groan. The tension in his face eased, as if he finally understood.

Swallowing a parasite ant being abandoned by the organization—and no one understood that better than a Crux assassin. There was no reason to suspect any further.

Without waiting for permission, he grabbed my wrist and closed his eyes, seemingly satisfied after a mont.

“The na’s Karl,” he said with a slight smile.

“…Karl.”

Hearing his na almost made drop my dagger. I stared at him in disbelief, unable to respond right away—not because I didn’t want to answer, but because the realization had hit like a brick wall.

Is this really that Karl?

Karl Bastain.

What the hell is Karl Bastain—that Karl, one of Crux’s most infamous assassins—doing here?

I stared at him, baffled. The Karl I knew from the novel wasn’t supposed to show up until half a year later, when the Mad Butcher, Kal Blazer, crushed the Etorre Family and raised his banner over their lands.

Karl was supposed to pledge loyalty to the Butcher, betraying Crux in exchange for their destruction. In the novel, Karl had been the hidden dagger of the Mad Butcher, a sinister force working in the shadows.

And now, he was standing right in front of —months earlier than he should have appeared.

Why the hell is he here?

"So? What’s your na?" Karl asked again, tilting his head slightly. His scarred face twisted into a faint grin, but his gaze remained sharp and unwavering.

I hesitated for a mont.

"...Al," I finally said.

“Al, huh? A fake na, right?” Karl smirked knowingly, his eyes gleaming with amusent.

Damn, this guy’s sharp as a razor.

Trying to deceive Karl Bastain would be pointless. The man was a natural-born scher.

He wasn’t just dangerous with a dagger; his mind was just as lethal.

Still, I kept my expression calm.

No point in revealing too much right now.

“Well, Al, it looks like we’ve both survived a nasty situation,” Karl said, dusting himself off. “Lucky for you, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

He smiled warmly, but there was sothing unnerving about that smile.

This guy is dangerous. No doubt about it.

“Anyway, Al—thanks for saving my life back there.” Karl gave a slight bow, as if to show respect, but there was an air of casual confidence to him, as though he was already in control of the situation.

It felt odd—considering that just monts ago, I had been holding him hostage.

At that mont, one of the lean assassins rushed over to Karl and helped him stand.

“Are you all right, sir?” the assassin—Elton—asked anxiously.

“I’m fine. Thanks, Elton,” Karl replied, brushing off the dust on his clothes. “I thought I was a goner for sure. But Al here saved . Lucky, right?”

Elton shot a wary glance, as if he didn’t entirely trust , but he kept his mouth shut.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Karl. We thought we lost you for good.”

“Yeah, sa here,” Karl muttered with a chuckle. “Let’s not do that again, though. I was one step away from getting digested by that damn sli.”

Elton looked visibly relieved but quickly put on a serious expression.

“Please don’t take such reckless risks next ti, sir. I’m not capable of leading the others in your place.”

“I know. That’s why I took responsibility for my decision,” Karl said, nodding. “But... this is all we have left, isn’t it?”

Elton’s face darkened as he gave a slow, heavy nod.

“Yes, sir. This is all that remains of our group.”

Karl closed his eyes briefly, as if the weight of that fact had just hit him. Nearly half of their force had been lost, even though Karl had risked his life to draw the monsters away.

It must’ve been brutal.

“We were surrounded by monsters without warning. There was nothing we could’ve done,” Elton murmured bitterly.

It seed like Karl’s original plan had been a disaster, and things had gone far worse than expected. But knowing Karl, he probably wasn’t the type to sit and brood over failure for long.

Karl’s gaze shifted back to , a sharp glint returning to his eyes.

“Anyway, Al,” he said, grinning slyly. “Since you saved my life, it’s only fair we work together, don’t you think?”

“Work together?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“Yeah. Let’s help each other out. You need to get out of this forest alive, don’t you?”

“...What are you suggesting?”

Karl leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.

“I know a way out of the magic circle. And I assu you’re interested in surviving?”

My heart skipped a beat at his words.

He knows how to get out of the magic circle?

That changed everything.

“In exchange,” Karl continued, “I need you to help with a little project of mine. Nothing too complicated.”

“And what kind of project would that be?”

“Let’s just say… it involves Dominic’s chiras. I think we have a shared interest in screwing up his plans.”

Dominic’s chiras...

Karl’s words intrigued , but they also set off warning bells in my mind.

He wants to interfere with Dominic’s experints?

If Karl was plotting sothing against Dominic, I had to be extrely careful.

“So, what do you say?” Karl asked casually, as if he were offering a cup of tea instead of a dangerous partnership. “We get out of this ss, and along the way, we might just have so fun.”

I stayed silent for a mont, weighing my options.

This could either save my life... or get killed.

But one thing was certain—Karl wasn’t soone I could afford to make an enemy of. At least, not yet.

“All right,” I said at last. “I’ll hear you out.”

“Good,” Karl said with a satisfied grin. “I knew you’d see reason.”

He clapped his hands together, and the assassins around us visibly relaxed.

“Well then, let’s get started. We have a lot of work ahead of us, partner.”

Partner, huh?

I wasn’t sure if I liked the sound of that. But for now, survival ca first.

And if teaming up with Karl Bastain was my best shot at making it out of this forest alive, I had no choice but to play along.

Whatever happens next... I’ll just have to adapt.

With that, Karl patted on the shoulder and gave a mischievous wink.

“Don’t worry, Al. This is going to be the start of a beautiful partnership.”

Yeah... sure.

Sohow, I had the feeling that my troubles were just beginning.