I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain Chapter 750

Swoosh—

Aside from the monsters lurking in the shadows, the sight wasn’t much different from the night before.

However, that wasn’t why Ian, leaning out of the carriage door, paid no attention to the surroundings. His gaze was sweeping over Miguel and Nasser, seated side by side on the driver’s bench.

"You can see it over there, my lord."

Unaware of the aning behind Ian’s stare, Nasser spoke casually, pointing toward the left, the side opposite Ian.

Yet Ian's gaze did not shift imdiately.

He glanced at the one-ard priest who had escaped a death that once seed certain, only to carry the weight of guilt for the rest of his life, and at the brown-skinned squire who looked destined to end his own atonent in death.

After giving them both one last look, Ian finally turned his attention to the horses pulling the carriage.

"How are the horses holding up?" He asked it as casually as ever.

Among the warhorses the princess had provided was Moro.

The road was rough, and to preserve the others’ stamina, Moro and Nila had been taking turns helping pull the carriage.

Grr...

Moro snorted as if in answer and glanced back. Its eyes showed no sign of fatigue whatsoever. The two warhorses beside it, heads lowered as though intimidated, made the contrast even clearer.

"As you can see, Moro’s doing most of the work," said Nasser.

"It had monster at last night, didn’t it? It clearly has energy to spare," Miguel added.

By now, both of them seed to have completely lost any discomfort about Moro being a demonic warhorse.

Ian was about to nod when he turned to the right instead. Another set of hoofbeats was approaching from beside them.

"Not tired, Ian?"

It was Nila, coming down from behind, and v, seated in its saddle.

"I’m fin—" Ian began answering casually as he turned to her, but then he paused.

For a fleeting mont, the faint smile on her face overlapped with the one he had seen in the vision.

"What? Is sothing wrong?" Noticing his expression, v blinked and asked, brushing her face with the fingers of her plated gauntlet.

Ian blinked quickly and shook his head as if nothing had happened. "No. It just looked a bit dangerous."

Nila was walking right along the edge of the narrow cliff path in the valley. One misstep and it would tumble straight down the slope.

Snort!

Nila whipped its head around to stare at him almost imdiately. Its eyes looked downright offended, as if shocked by Ian’s lack of faith.

v chuckled softly and stroked the horse’s thick mane.

"As if Nila would make a mistake like that, Ian."

"Of course not. I ant if it were any other horse," Ian answered lightly, avoiding Nila’s gaze.

Nila snorted again, and a clicking tongue sounded from behind them.

"Really nice to see you wasting ti like that, Ian."

It was Thesaya, who had just stepped out from the opposite door.

Shaking her head slightly, she climbed ‌onto the carriage roof like a squirrel.

"Co up here, Ian," said v.

As Ian clicked his tongue, v gave an awkward smile and held out her hand. "You’ll see better from the saddle."

Ian imdiately took her hand and swung himself up behind her. If he hesitated even a little, Nila would probably feel offended again.

As if to prove a point, the horse didn’t wobble in the slightest.

Ian wrapped one arm around v’s waist and looked toward the front left.

"Ah, yes. Just like we heard," Thesaya added from above.

Beyond the gently curving ridge of the valley, a dark peak had co into view.

"Looks like it," Ian replied, fixing his gaze on the mountainside. Halfway up, a gray-white rock jutted out like a bird’s beak. It was small enough that you’d only notice it after looking carefully.

"Since the ridge continuing behind it on the left is steeper, I think we should head that way," said Nasser.

"That’s what it looks like to too. There are more peaks beyond it. Hopefully the path continues," Miguel added with a nod.

"I’m sure it does," Nasser said confidently. "Mages hate physical hardship more than anything."

"That’s a very biased thing to say, Half-Ear—true, but still," Thesaya snorted in mock reproach.

Of course, Nasser didn’t even pretend to be apologetic. Stretching as he clasped both hands behind his neck, he continued, "Either way, they’re hiding much deeper than I expected. Not sowhere particularly conspicuous, either."

"That’s exactly why they chose it. Who hides sowhere obvious?"

"True enough." Nasser nodded easily and let out a quiet laugh. "Still, just looking at it makes my heart race. Finding even one magic tower is a goal for many Purifiers."

"I have no idea how that could possibly be exciting," Miguel muttered, shaking his head.

Thesaya cut in. "Was it really impossible even with the Great Church’s information network?"

"Of course. There were no clues at all."

Nasser shrugged and looked toward her.

"Even during the era when mage towers were being built competitively, the mages already didn’t get along very well between factions. Yet when it ca to the decision they made after building their towers, it seems they all agreed."

"They killed everyone who knew," v said quietly.

Nasser glanced at her and smiled. "And burned every record related to it."

"If everyone died, how did anyone find out about that?" Miguel asked with a grimace.

Nasser shrugged again. "Speculation. They claim the towers recruited people in complete secrecy and placed binding prohibitions on them, so of course nothing would beco known."

"Like they’d go through all that trouble." Thesaya scoffed.

Nasser nodded in agreent.

Then he began recounting various covert operations the Great Church had carried out over the years to locate hidden Magic Towers—stories he had either heard from his seniors or witnessed firsthand.

Everyone listened with keen interest except Ian.

Staring at Mount Nosnel, he was once again turning the foresight over in his mind.

The future he had seen this ti had grown a little hazy, but unlike before, it hadn’t completely faded from mory. Thesaya’s voice still rang vividly in his ears, especially her words about how saving everyone would be impossible.

If that desire itself is the trap...

He had reached a dead end. No matter how many tis he thought about it, he couldn’t bring himself to give up on anyone. Every person he had seen in the vision was soone precious to him in one way or another.

Of course, that didn’t an he intended to simply accept the future as it was.

First things first... I need to reach the max level as fast as possible.

Ian admitted that it had been arrogant to think he might not need to beco a White Mage.

He had to gain power by any ans necessary, though there was still the problem of whether he could earn the remaining experience in ti.

Maybe that’s why I saw that vision earlier.

Ian calmly went over the mory again instead of letting himself grow anxious. He didn’t bother regretting that he might not have skipped the Southern DLC region so easily.

Even if he went back, he knew he would make the sa choice.

"If that’s only what you know, there must have been far more secret operations in reality."

When Nasser finished his story, Thesaya let out an impressed murmur.

She watched him shrug, then added, "As expected, the Great Church wants to wipe mages off the face of the world."

"Coincidentally, it’s true that most of them are obsessed with evil research. Of course, the Red Tower protested quite strongly..."

"After eting them, I realized it wasn’t for moral reasons. They just hate impurities mixing into their flas. Their ultimate goal seed to be surpassing sacred fire."

"What?! They have such arrogant, blasphemous ambitions?" Miguel frowned deeply at Thesaya’s reply. He seed genuinely offended, judging by his expression.

"Well, either way... to , what the Great Church is trying to do doesn’t look much different from the magic towers," Thesaya said with a crooked smile, glancing aside. "Not every mage is corrupt, like Ian and ."

"I recall that you once had a ti when you were a demon yourself, Elder. Of course, Sir Ian is the descendant of a legendary White Mage, so he would be an exception... though you both seem to have a few inconvenient secrets that would cause trouble if revealed."

"You’re sharper than usual today, Half-Ear," Thesaya answered with a snort.

"Thank you for the complint, Elder."

"Nasser’s right. I’m no exception either," said Ian.

Thesaya froze. A mont later, Miguel and Nasser turned to him at the sa ti.

"You’re not?"

"The White Mage isn’t the virtuous figure the legends make him out to be. He’s a selfish and calculating spellcaster."

After glancing from v to Thesaya, Ian added, "ticulous enough to lay a trap for a descendant who might not appear for centuries to co."

"A... trap?" Thesaya blinked in confusion. It was the first ti she had heard the details about the White Mage.

Ian smiled faintly, looking at v as her eyes widened in the sa way. "Yes. The power of the bloodline was bait. If a descendant ca of their own accord, the real goal was to seize their body and resurrect."

"Good heavens..."

"Lu Entre, have rcy."

Not only Thesaya but also Nasser and Miguel stared with their mouths slightly open.

Ian kept his gaze on v’s trembling eyes and tilted his head. "Of course, I won. Anyway, that’s what mages are like—from the very beginning. And I’m not much different, inheriting that blood."

He finally turned his gaze away and looked toward Mount Nosnel. "I’m planning to kill every spellcaster hiding sowhere beyond that mountain, and it doesn’t bother in the slightest."

"That... that’s different. The ones hiding there are corrupted, disgusting creatures who conduct horrible research and experints," Miguel stamred.

One corner of Ian’s mouth curled slightly higher. "Which just made the decision easier for , conveniently enough."

He didn’t particularly like admitting it, but the idea of staining his hands with human blood rather than monsters no longer stirred anything inside him.

Even if they weren’t corrupted, it likely wouldn’t have changed much.

"So from now on, don’t follow my plans blindly."

Ian looked around at the group, each of them wearing a different, complicated expression.

"Don’t sacrifice yourselves for . Don’t risk your lives for my sake either. Nothing is more precious than your life. Rember that."

"Does that include this plan?" Thesaya asked, one corner of her lips curling slightly.

Ian nodded without hesitation. "Of course. If you’re not comfortable with it, you can leave anyti. We’ll have to abandon the carriage halfway anyway."

"Sorry to ruin the mood... but that’s awfully generous of you, Ian."

Thesaya’s lips twitched as she turned to the others.

"After telling us everything up to this point, you’re giving us another chance to choose at the very end."

"Indeed. Any spellcaster I know wouldn’t have been this honest about it." Nasser nodded in agreent.

v, who had been watching Ian with eyes full of quiet thoughts, finally spoke as well.

"I agree. You’re different, Ian."

Without taking her eyes off Ian, whose brow twitched slightly, v added, "If they weren’t corrupt, you would’ve chosen a way that didn’t involve killing them."

"Exactly. Even if you had business with them, you’d probably try threats or negotiation instead." Thesaya shot a glance at Nasser and smiled. "You’ve spared far too many people already for anyone to deny it."

"I’m not sure why you’re looking at when you say that, but I agree," Nasser said.

"Right. The fact that I’m still alive is proof of that." Miguel nodded along after him.

That alone was enough to draw a faint, bitter smile from Ian.

In truth, most of those choices hadn’t co from conscience. They had simply been decisions of necessity.

After a mont, Ian swallowed a sigh and t their eyes. "I ant what I said. Rember it."

"Alright."

"Got it."

Miguel and v both nodded.

anwhile, Nasser, still watching Ian, let a curious smile spread across his lips. "Then this operation must be quite dangerous. You didn’t even say things like that when we were heading to face an archdemon."

"Spellcasters are swarming down there. And we have no idea what might be waiting beneath." Ian clicked his tongue softly as he answered.

He had entered the Gray Magic Tower in the ga before, but he hadn’t explored every area.

The real nightmare had been the demonic realm beneath Larmut, and when he reached the tower afterward, he had only wandered briefly before retreating.

In the first place, the quest he’d received had only asked him to uncover a little of the secret hidden within Larmut.

And clearing the Demonic Realm alone had already pushed his patience past its limits.

The client, clearly one of the princes, hadn’t been insane enough to ask him to conquer the tower as well. Instead, he simply paid him generously and warned him to keep quiet.

"By the way, didn’t you say we don’t actually know where the entrance is?" Miguel asked, scratching his beard.

Ian snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. "That’s right. Don’t worry. I’ll find a way sohow. You just focus on locating the lake."

"Let say this now," Thesaya cut in, looking around at the group. "Nobody try anything clever. Just keep your heads down and your mouths shut."

Her gaze lingered especially on Miguel. Under the master liar’s stare, he instinctively drew his head in.

"Whatever happens, leave everything to Ian." She shook her head lightly and turned to Ian with a playful smile. "Actually, to Lord Ivan, the corrupted gray mage who inherited his master’s will. Got it?"

Ian’s eyes narrowed automatically. It was obvious she was looking forward to the ridiculous role he was about to play. And she wasn’t the only one.

"My heart’s suddenly beating faster."

"Indeed. Dark mage Ivan..."

Nasser and even v were nodding along.

Miguel’s chuckle followed. "Guess I’m the only one who’s seen him before. Brings back mories... heh..."

"Just focus on finding the path." Ian’s cold retort made Miguel instantly turn back to the front, lips tucked in.

Nasser did the sa, though the smile never left his face.

"I’m looking forward to it, Ian," v whispered then, placing her hand over the back of his hand where it rested around her waist. "I’m sure that role will suit you very well."

Ian’s brow twitched again.

v winked at him and turned forward, her hand still resting on his.

Ian let out a quiet, helpless laugh, shifting his gaze toward Mount Nosnel, now fully revealed ahead.

"If you need my help, just say the word, Ian. If we’re going to deceive a nest of spellcasters, the story can’t have even a single weak point," Thesaya added in a smug tone.

Ian pretended not to hear her at all.