The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

Faced with that cold, pitch-black cannon muzzle, the man in charge of investigating went pale on the spot.

They were elite enforcers specially trained by Wood—disciplined and drilled. Wood had poured immense effort and money into them, ensuring that with their professional training they could handle any sudden situation.

They were also the core force of this betrayal.

But... even as the core force, how to deal with a cannon pointed right at your face was clearly beyond anything their training had covered.

The man only had time to turn his head and shout to the two behind him:

”Run, go warn—”

His shout was cut short.

Because in the next instant, his desperate scream was drowned by the roar of the cannon.

A dazzling beam lanced through the building, rubble and fragments whirling as if a light of annihilation had descended upon the world.

And yet, this terrifying sight failed to draw the attention of any outsiders.

Crackling arcs of electricity spread out. The air itself began to twist.

All sound and image were sealed entirely within this empty alleyway.

...

”What was that?”

At the back door.

Several of Wood’s men guarding the entrance frowned slightly and glanced toward the front.

”Sounded like something over by the front door.”

”Think something went wrong?”

”Shouldn’t. There are three full squads guarding that side, and even Lord Elder is there. With such an exalted magician present, nothing could possibly go wrong.”

”Just to be safe, we should still check in.”

The man who looked like the leader spoke cautiously.

His subordinate nodded, pulled out a communication stone, and was just about to connect—

”Pl... please, have mercy.”

A beggar from who-knows-where shuffled into the narrow back alley where the rear entrance was, trembling as he grabbed the leader’s sleeve. He exposed the bony, sunken chest beneath his ragged clothes, lips quivering, the cloudy, aged eyes full of pleading:

”I haven’t eaten for days... please, give me something... anything...”

”Tch, where’d this beggar come from? Get lost—”

The leader stretched out a hand, intending to shove the beggar away.

But before his hand could fall, he suddenly froze in place.

”Boss?”

The subordinate behind him—still anxiously staring at the unconnected communication stone—was the first to notice something was wrong. He reached out and gave the leader a push.

Thud.

The big man collapsed at once. Blood poured from a wound right over his heart, staining the ground red.

His eyes were wide like copper bells, still full of terror and disbelief.

”What—?”

The subordinate jolted in fright. When he jerked his head up, he saw that the beggar from just a moment ago had vanished without a trace.

”Honestly... young people these days don’t have a shred of compassion.”

The subordinate stared blankly down.

A sharp stab of pain tore through his gut as something hard and pointed punched through his abdomen, agony ripping his nerves apart.

Blood was already flowing, soaking into his clothes.

...

...

Wood finally sensed that something was off.

Knowing Rat King as well as he did, that ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) calm composure couldn’t possibly be an act.

Which meant...

Boom.

Wood felt the floor beneath his feet suddenly tremble.

Even without any sound carrying up, his face changed drastically.

”What happened?”

Wood barked at his men:

”Go find out what’s going on!”

”Y-yes, sir!”

The servant from earlier moved quickly, rushing downstairs.

But before Wood received any reply, he heard a scream.

The servant’s scream.

It was shrill and urgent, but after the first note it was cut off at once, turning into a low, wet gurgle.

As if, in the instant he came face-to-face with the enemy, his throat had been slit.

”W-what...?”

Wood’s face twisted again.

Judging from the volume, he could roughly place the servant’s position—somewhere around the second or third floor of this five-story building.

There was still some distance.

But that only made it all the more terrifying.

Because for this operation—not only to surround and kill Rat King, but to prevent him from having men hidden outside—Wood had dispatched his finest and most trusted subordinates to seal every entrance and exit of the building.

They had even laid numerous traps inside, and the magician Old Ghost had lent him was stationed at the main door. With such defenses, forget the Lower District gangs—even the city guard would need plenty of time to break through this place.

So why... why...

”N-no way... there’s no way it could be this easy...”

Wood’s hands trembled as he fumbled for his communication stone. But no matter how he tried to connect, all he got in return was the busy, unreachable tone.

A boundless terror suddenly closed around his heart. It felt like in just these few short minutes, he had lost half his men.

”Nothing is impossible, Wood. My being here means I’m one hundred percent certain.”

Rat King’s tone was both pitying and mocking:

”After following me for so long, you still don’t completely understand me. Truly disappointing. I thought you’d be smarter than this.”

”You... you knew all along?”

Wood’s head snapped up as he glared at Rat King with hatred:

”Sam, you already knew I’d gone over to Old Ghost, so you came here on purpose to bait me? You were just waiting for me to make a move, is that it?”

”No. I didn’t know.”

Rat King lowered his eyelids:

”Honestly, trying to figure out who among you is loyal and who’s turned on me is extremely difficult. I don’t have mind-reading, after all. Even someone as strong as Old Ghost has been betrayed before.

”But so what? I don’t actually need to figure it out, do I?

”Rather than wasting my energy on something basically impossible to accomplish, it’s better to just...”

Rat King slowly raised the handheld crossbow in his hand and aimed it at Wood, his eyes utterly devoid of mercy:

”Use this opportunity to wipe out all the foul tumors that might threaten me.”

”N... no...”

Wood suddenly dropped to his knees.

His huge body bent over, finally allowing Rat King to truly look down at him.

The vicious greed from before seemed like it had all been a hallucination. Wood lowered his eyes, submissive and humble as he pleaded:

”I was wrong, I was wrong, Lord Rat King. Old Ghost fooled me. I lost my head for a moment.”

”Forgive me, please forgive me. As long as you forgive me, I’ll do anything. I’ll even lick your shoes, that’s right—I’ll lick your shoes if I have to!”

Still on his knees, Wood shuffled forward as if he genuinely meant to prostrate himself before Rat King and reverently lick the filth from his boots—to show his resolve to reform, abandon the darkness, and return to the light.

But...

Rat King only watched him coldly. The crossbow in his hand remained steady, the bolt aimed right between Wood’s brows.

”Wood, what’s the point of this? Maybe you don’t understand me, but I understand you very well.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Rat King pulled the trigger.

And almost at the exact same moment, Wood’s previously obedient expression twisted into one of rage and ferocity.

A flash of knife-light streaked from the hand he’d kept hidden behind his back, slashing toward one of Rat King’s vital spots without the slightest hesitation.

It was a sneak attack with no warning whatsoever.

Unfortunately for him, the target had long since been prepared.

Clink.

The close-fitting magi-armor beneath Rat King’s clothes flared with a dim blue light again, barely blocking the strike. At the same time, Wood managed to avoid the bolt Rat King had fired; the razor-sharp arrowhead only sliced across his cheek.

Wood stared daggers at Rat King, ignoring the blood running down his face. He panted like a wild beast driven into a dead end.

But he was still rational.

Wood understood that he already had one foot over the edge of the abyss. Very soon, Rat King’s people would break through completely and grind this traitor’s bones to dust.

His only chance at survival now...

”Sam, I admit—you’ve got the upper hand.”

”But... to show up in front of me all alone like this, don’t you think you’re underestimating me just a little?”

Wood swung his blade again.

He knew Rat King’s weakness at this moment—and that weakness was Rat King himself.

To lure out the snake and make him reveal his fangs, Rat King had been willing to walk into Wood’s territory alone and use himself as bait.

He had succeeded. Wood had fallen for it and gone all-in on this rebellion.

But!

This bait was still weaker than he was.

Even with that fancy magi-armor from who-knows-where as a trump card, armor that only defended couldn’t block his strikes forever.

Nor could it block all the strikes from his side.

That’s right—so long as he killed Rat King, every problem would resolve itself.

Once Rat King died, his subordinates would have no reason to keep throwing their lives away for him. The head of the Rat Society would still be Wood himself.

Excitement flickered across Wood’s features, and the flames in his bloodshot eyes roared back to life.

”Die!”

Clang—

His sharp longsword spat out a blade of light several meters long as Wood poured nearly all his battle-qi into it and unleashed his full power.

The strike’s force was undeniable. Rat King was never good at frontal combat; he was sent flying by the blow on the spot.

A clear crack appeared in the armor on his chest.

Wood was overjoyed. He paid no mind to stopping Rat King’s approaching men and instead shouted to the remaining subordinates:

”Quick! Help me kill Rat King first! As long as Rat King dies, the winner will still be—huh?”

Wood turned his head in confusion.

Because he suddenly realized that, starting from just now, his loyal subordinates had gone completely silent.

He had assumed Rat King’s people had surged in. But when he looked over, the scene he’d pictured simply wasn’t there.

It should have been good news, but...

”Wh... what are you doing?”

In his line of sight, those brave, loyal subordinates who had been willing to betray Rat King alongside him were, for some reason, all shaking and kneeling on the floor, kowtowing and begging toward a certain direction.

But there was obviously nothing there.

It was as if they were seeing something so terrifying it crushed all their courage and will to resist—yet he himself saw nothing at all...

He alone saw nothing at all.

”Ha...”

Lying on the floor, Rat King couldn’t help letting out a mocking laugh:

”Wood, when did you get the idea that I was here alone?”

”W-what?”

As if sensing something, Wood suddenly swung his blade at a spot not far to the side.

Steel tore the air with a shrill buzz—another all-out strike with no mercy held back.

But the blow was calmly stopped by a single slender hand that had appeared there at some unknown point.

”Third-tier, huh.”

A rich, deep voice murmured with a hint of rueful emotion:

”So at some point, this level stopped being any threat to me at all.”