I'm a Villain in My Own Game?

[Vilmore POV]

A few days ago, I detected the Hero's Mana in this city when the Temple was attacked. This confirmed my suspicion that he was staying somewhere around this area.

Unfortunately, I had been in another region when the attack occurred, so I was unable to personally witness the Hero's identity. However, if another attack were to happen in this city, there was no doubt that the Hero would reveal himself here once again.

I would wait and confirm his identity. After that, I would formulate a plan to kill him.

"Nuna, wait here. I will revive the dragon using the artifact Lord Regulus gave me," I ordered the True Vampire.

"My Lord, will the revived Dragon possess the same strength it had before it died?" Nuna asked me.

"Judging from its skeleton, this Dragon has lost both of its wings," I replied. "It seems that once it is revived, this Dragon will only be able to exert around twenty to thirty percent of its former strength. However, that will be more than enough to throw this city into chaos and force the Hero to reveal himself."

I then took out a dagger and entered the museum. Inside, I saw the enormous skeleton of a dragon.

I leaped onto the Dragon's skull and plunged the dagger given to me by Lord Regulus into its bones until it was firmly embedded within the skull.

Not long after, a rune appeared on the dagger before spreading across the Dragon's skeletal remains. Flesh and blood began to form, and it was only a matter of time before the Dragon that had once fought the First Hero returned to this world.

Once all the preparations were complete, Nuna and I left the area and hid nearby, waiting and watching for the Hero.

• Groaarrrrrr!

The roar of a savage beast echoed from the direction of the museum we had just left. A torrent of flames shot into the sky, tearing through the museum's roof.

"Even with only twenty percent of its former strength, this Dragon will surely give those humans a great deal of trouble!"

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[Brian POV]

All the citizens were running away from the museum area. Looking up at the sky, I saw burning debris from the buildings falling like meteors, striking several fleeing civilians.

"Run! Save yourselves!"

"Call the Knights and Inquisitors! There's a monster rampaging through the city!"

Screams echoed from every direction. Buildings were beginning to burn one after another, so Inquisitor Elvira and I immediately headed toward the museum to find out what had happened.

When we arrived, we saw an enormous black dragon rampaging through the area, spewing flames from its mouth at the surrounding buildings.

"A wingless dragon..." the Inquisitor muttered.

"Could that be Syrax, the skeleton that was displayed in the museum!?" I could hardly believe what I was seeing. "But how could that creature possibly come back to life after being nothing but a skeleton for hundreds of years!?"

"We can think about that later, Brian! Right now, we need to call in the entire force and evacuate the civilians from this area!"

Inquisitor Elvira mounted a horse and immediately left the area to seek reinforcements.

For now, all I could do was help the citizens escape from the vicinity of that terrifying Dragon.

• Groaaarrr!

The Dragon roared deafeningly. I had no choice but to cover my ears with my palms. The windows of the surrounding buildings shattered from the sound wave produced by its roar.

Looking toward the Dragon, I saw it open its mouth and turn its head toward a group of people desperately fleeing.

"Mama! Mama! Mama!"

I saw a small child fall after being knocked over by someone in the panicked crowd.

"Get away from there! Hurry! The Dragon is going to breathe fire!"

But the child couldn't hear me.

Activating Acceleration, I immediately dashed forward to save the child. Only a few meters remained. I had to reach him.

The child saw me and stretched his arms toward me.

• Wosssshhh!

But I was too late.

A massive wave of flames engulfed the child and several other unfortunate people who had failed to escape in time.

Their bodies were reduced to ash, which was carried away by the wind once the flames subsided.

My body trembled. I clenched my fists tightly and bit my lip, trying to suppress the scream of emotion rising inside me after failing to save that child.

I turned my gaze toward the Dragon and stared at it with rage.

I picked up a sword lying on the ground and activated Justice Spirit. A golden light began to envelop my body.

"Enough! I won't stand by and let you destroy this city and slaughter its citizens!"

Activating Acceleration, I shot toward the Dragon.

I leaped into the air and prepared the strongest slash I possessed.

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"Raging Blade!"

My sword struck its neck with tremendous force.

Yet my attack didn't even leave a scratch on its skin.

I glanced to the side and saw the Dragon's tail coming straight toward me.

• Bam!

Its tail slammed into my body, sending me flying into the wall of a nearby building.

"Worthless... Human..."

I heard the Dragon speak. My entire body felt numb. It seemed that several of my bones had been broken.

Attacking it recklessly like that had been foolish...

I tried to stand, only to see the Dragon staring at me like a wild beast preparing to devour its prey.

Its mouth slowly opened, and flames began gathering inside, growing larger and larger.

Damn it! The Dragon was about to attack me with its flames!

I had to move!

But no matter how hard I tried to move my body, I kept collapsing. My leg must have been injured when its tail struck me earlier.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I would die if I didn't get away immediately.

However, just as the Dragon was about to unleash its flames at me, its head was suddenly struck by a massive chunk of earth, causing its fiery breath to miss me completely.

"Brian! Are you all right!?"

Inquisitor Elvira suddenly appeared and helped me to my feet.

"Reinforcements have arrived. I managed to gather several Inquisitors who were in the city. The others are still on their way here from the fortress."

"Thank you, Inquisitor," I said. "We need to focus on evacuating the civilians first. That Dragon is incredibly powerful, and ordinary attacks won't have any effect on it."

The Inquisitor nodded before supporting me as we walked toward a Priest who could heal my injuries.

The city had already become a war zone.

Mages continuously fired magical projectiles at the Dragon. Fire, earth, water, wind, and even lightning spells bombarded its body, yet none of them left so much as a scratch.

The Dragon eventually grew irritated and charged toward the soldiers protecting the mages from behind.

"This is pointless! None of our attacks are doing anything to it!"

"Retreat! Retreat! Save yourselves!"

I watched as the Dragon tore through the soldiers' formation. It stomped on and sent flying anyone who dared to obstruct its path.

"Human... Scum!"

Several Inquisitors attempted to move forward and stop the Dragon. However, their efforts were futile. The Dragon was simply too powerful and easily forced them back.

"Priest, how much longer? I want to get to the front line and help them," I asked the Priest treating my injuries.

"Wait a few more minutes. I'm still healing your fractured bones."

Unlike Ariel's magic, which could heal someone almost instantly, ordinary Priests required time to treat a person's injuries.

"Bad news! The Dragon is heading this way!" someone warned us.

I looked toward the enormous creature as it walked toward the area where the Priests were treating the wounded.

The Dragon seemed to grin before opening its mouth wide.

Was it going to breathe fire toward us?

"Everyone! Get out of here immediately! The Dragon is about to unleash its flames!" I shouted to warn the others.

I tried to stand and hurried away. My body had not fully recovered because the Priest had not yet finished healing me.

• Woooshhhh!

A torrent of flames shot toward us. My entire body felt as though it were burning despite being some distance away from the Dragon's fire.

Looking behind me, I witnessed a horrifying scene unfold before my eyes.

"Ahhh! It's hot! It's hot!"

"Quick! Take cover behind the buildings!"

Everything was in chaos. Screams could be heard everywhere, while the Dragon continued advancing.

If this continued, it wouldn't be long before the monster reached the area where the civilians were being evacuated.

What could we do?

None of the attacks from the mages or Knights here could stop the Dragon.

I approached Inquisitor Elvira, who was standing with several other Inquisitors.

"Brian, how are you feeling?" asked the woman, who was five years older than me.

"I can fight again, Inquisitor," I replied. "But what is our plan for stopping that Dragon? We can't let it get anywhere near the civilians, can we?"

Hearing my question, Inquisitor Elvira shook her head.

"Even after using all the strength at our disposal, we still can't stop that Dragon. Our only hope is to wait for one of the Grand Espadas, an Archwizard, or a Holy Knight to arrive and defeat it."

Wait for a Grand Espada or an Archwizard?

How long were we supposed to wait?

If I remembered correctly, the nearest Grand Espada was currently in Duchy Viscaya, approximately 140 kilometers away. Meanwhile, an Archwizard was in the Castille Magic Tower, nearly 200 kilometers to the west.

"According to the report, one of the Holy Knights, Fernando de Verdaluna, is currently heading here," Inquisitor Elvira explained. "He is expected to arrive in half an hour. We have to hold the Dragon back until he gets here."

Half an hour?

Could we really prevent this Dragon from killing the citizens for that long?

"Elvira! Hurry and help the others! That damn monster is getting closer to the civilians we're evacuating!"

One of the Inquisitors called out to her.

"Come on, Brian. Let's do whatever we can for now."

Magical projectiles continued to rain down upon the Dragon. Fire, earth, water, wind, and even lightning spells failed to leave any visible mark on the terrifying monster.

The Inquisitors and I leaped onto the Dragon's body and attacked it with everything we had.

The Dragon began thrashing its body violently, trying to throw us off. However, we managed to hold on by gripping its thick, hardened scales.

• Groooarrr!

The Dragon roared before suddenly leaping high into the air.

The enormous movement made it difficult for the Inquisitors and me to remain on its back.

When the Dragon landed, the impact sent several Inquisitors flying.

The Dragon repeated the maneuver again and again until only three of us remained clinging to its body.

However, it seemed to have grown tired of jumping.

The Dragon turned its head and stared at us with those terrifying eyes.

"Damn it! Get off the Dragon's body!" Inquisitor Elvira shouted as she noticed the Dragon opening its mouth.

The others and I immediately jumped down.

We could feel the painful heat against our bodies as the Dragon began spewing flames from its mouth.

Fortunately, we managed to get away in time.

After shaking the Inquisitors off its body, the Dragon resumed walking toward the civilians being evacuated.

"Inquisitor! I'm going to use a large-scale spell! Please keep the Dragon distracted for one minute!" I told the Inquisitors.

"All right. Your attack had better be enough to stop that Dragon!"

They all returned to distracting the Dragon.

Meanwhile, I climbed onto the roof of a building and began gathering as much Mana as possible into the sword in my hand.

More...

I needed to gather even more Mana until I had enough to stop that Dragon!

If I failed, everyone would die.

Everyone would die because I had failed to save them once again.

My body and the sword in my hand gradually became enveloped in a golden light.

Even lifting the sword had become incredibly difficult because of the enormous amount of Mana accumulated inside it.

"Brian, are you ready!?" one of the Inquisitors shouted.

"I'm ready!"

Hearing my answer, the Inquisitors around the Dragon began retreating.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

My hands trembled as I struggled to keep the sword raised.

The Dragon turned its attention toward me.

It seemed to have sensed the immense amount of Mana I was preparing to unleash against it.

Yet the Dragon only grinned at me.

It looked as though it was challenging me.

"I'll wipe that arrogant look off your face, bastard!" I shouted as I prepared to unleash my ultimate attack.

"Roar, Incursioooo!"

I swung my sword.

The Mana I had gathered surged forward, transforming into a gigantic wave of magic that raced toward the Dragon.

The Dragon didn't dodge.

It simply stood there.

• BOOMMMM!

A massive explosion erupted when my attack struck the Dragon.

The resulting shockwave and powerful gust of wind shattered every window in the surrounding buildings.

Smoke filled the area where my spell had struck the monster.

I still couldn't tell whether my attack had been enough to injure the enormous Dragon.

However, when the smoke finally cleared, the Dragon was still standing firmly in place.

Not a single wound could be seen anywhere on its body.

"How is this possible? Even my strongest attack didn't leave a scratch on its skin..." I muttered, beginning to lose hope.

The Dragon roared loudly before rampaging once again, slaughtering the soldiers who stood in its way as it continued advancing toward the civilians being evacuated.

"How? How can none of our attacks have any effect on it? How are we supposed to stop this monster?"

Forget holding this monster back for half an hour.

In less than ten minutes, if we failed to stop it, tens of thousands of lives could be lost because of the Dragon's brutality.

As I desperately thought of a way to stop the monster, I suddenly heard footsteps behind me.

"Do you want to stop that Dragon?"

I turned around.

Standing behind me was a man wearing a black mask—the distinctive trademark of a Performer from the group known as The Masquerade.

He...

He was one of the members of the group that had killed Inquisitor Markus—my mentor.