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

“This is a world for Muen Campbell and me alone... no one is allowed to interfere!”

The pure-white man shouted madly. That deep voice echoed across the absolutely silent ruined city like roaring waves sweeping through the sky!

“Hah?”

Muen and Anna both froze for a moment.

What the hell?

A world for two?

For a moment, Anna’s pretty face displayed three parts confusion, three parts fury, and ninety-four parts disbelief. She turned toward Muen:

“?”

“No no no! It’s absolutely not what you’re imagining! No matter how heavy my tastes are, there’s no way I’d be with a ghost thing like this... Watch out!”

Muen waved his hands frantically. His explanation only reached halfway—

Because the second pure-white man had already closed in on Anna. A vortex emerged upon his body, and terrifying suction instantly enveloped Anna within it.

“Hmph!”

Accompanied by a cold snort—

Moonlight descended once more.

But this time, it was not the icy pale moonlight from before.

It was an eerie crimson!

A blood-red moon occupied nearly half the sky, as though countless scarlet eyes had opened upon its surface, carrying the supreme might of an Evil God’s authority, along with the girl’s fury, as it gazed down upon the pure-white man as insignificant as an ant!

“Ahhh!”

The pure-white man screamed miserably. The two faces belonging to Ghoul and Altair upon his body instantly exploded apart, and the gravity magic binding Anna disappeared along with them.

Countless tiny wounds also appeared across his body itself. Massive quantities of blood erupted from those wounds, as though after merely another insignificant two seconds—

Or perhaps only one—

He would explode apart and die on the spot.

Unfortunately, it was still too slow by that tiny instant.

“Get lost!”

The pure-white man roared. His voice carried unimaginable agony.

Yet the vortex had already fully formed, swallowing Anna within it...

...

...

“Bang!”

A jade-like fist smashed fiercely into the wall.

Despite containing no battle aura whatsoever, the tall wall beside the girl instantly split apart with countless cracks.

“A world for two? Oh my... who would’ve thought there’d come a day when even I would get intercepted by a monster.”

Anna was furious beyond measure. Having her date with Junior interrupted was one thing, but now Junior had actually been stolen away by some monster, and the other side had even declared he wanted a world for two with Junior?

If she did not know that bastard might be trash but his taste had always remained reliable, and that generally speaking nothing except long black-stockinged legs could shake him, she would’ve suspected this was yet another creature trying to steal her man!

“Forget it... a monster is still better than another woman. If he threw me out only to spend a world for two with another woman, I truly couldn’t endure it.”

Anna quickly calmed down and began considering how she could return to that Sea of the Abyss.

Although she trusted Junior greatly, from the final moment before leaving, it seemed Junior’s situation was somewhat bad while being targeted from every direction...

“Who’s there?”

Before her thoughts reached any conclusion, the wall suddenly collapsed. In the nearby courtyard, a man who had been trimming flowers widened his eyes as he stared at the wall he had only finished building yesterday disappearing, along with the unbelievably beautiful figure that had suddenly appeared. Instinctively, he assumed a defensive stance.

Wha... what happened?

“...”

Anna glanced at him without saying much. She pulled out a slip of paper, wrote something upon it, then casually tossed it to the man.

“Go to 33 Leville Street. Someone there will help you deal with it.”

“...O-okay!”

The man nodded blankly. Before he could even say anything else, the unbelievably beautiful woman turned and left immediately after throwing down the note.

Her steps were sharp and decisive, her figure graceful and alluring. The high heels over ten centimeters tall were sharp as knife tips, while her aura was cold, solemn, proud, and domineering, as though next she was heading toward some crucial war that permitted only victory, never defeat!

...

...

“Hah, you lost, Muen Campbell!”

Sea of the Abyss ruins.

The bright moon in the sky had already vanished, and the black tides upon the ground had completely receded. Aside from the enormous crater still displaying the girl’s former fury, it was as though nothing had happened here at all.

The pure-white man floated above the crater, covered in wounds and in a miserable state, yet the face belonging to Donna wore an incomparably smug smile.

“That woman has already been sent away. No one can protect you anymore!”

“...How exactly did you arrive at such an absurd conclusion?”

Watching helplessly as Senior was sent away, Muen’s cheeks twitched.

“Do I really look like someone who lives off women?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you are?” the pure-white man asked in confusion. “Weren’t you constantly being protected by that woman earlier?”

“That was just because Senior’s thighs were white and soft, so I held onto them a little!”

Muen flew into a rage.

“That absolutely does not count as living off women, you bastard! Get this straight! I, Muen Campbell, am a man who’s always on top!”

“...Whatever.”

The pure-white man could not care less who was on top or bottom. He simply sneered:

“No matter what, without anyone helping you, you’re dead for sure!”

“Heh, that may not necessarily be true!”

Muen responded with a cold laugh of his own.

Dong!

An ancient and distant bell rang out, echoing throughout this ruined city that had remained devoid of human life for nearly a thousand years.

All magic power surged into the alchemy core. The burning sensation transmitted from his back was nearly painful enough to stab through Muen!

The instant the conversation ended, faced with the situation where Senior had been sent away and he needed to confront the pure-white man alone, Muen immediately mobilized the full power of time without the slightest hesitation!

After all, this ghost thing was clearly specifically targeting him. Moreover, it possessed the bizarre ability to steal others’ faces and thereby borrow their powers. Although Senior had destroyed Altair and Ghoul’s faces before leaving, one must not forget—

The most troublesome thing remained that puppet doll!

The puppet doll had already twisted four times.

The fifth time would be the neck.

Therefore, under absolutely no circumstances could he be allowed to continue any further!

One move.

Victory or defeat would be decided in one move!

Dong!

Invisible power spread alongside the bell, enveloping both Muen and the pure-white man.

Within Muen’s field of vision, every region covered by the invisible power turned gray-white.

Everything within the region seemed frozen inside an old photograph. The wind stopped. Endless yellow sand hovered suspended in midair. Muen could even clearly see each individual grain of sand.

Time stop.

This was the ability that had improved the most after he transformed into the Black Sun and used that power of faith to repeatedly rewind on a massive scale, thereby strengthening his connection with the Eternal Bell.

Originally, only when facing absolute despair could he, by exhausting everything, briefly stop time within an area for a mere single second.

But now, when facing non-Crowned beings, the duration of this time-stop ability had directly expanded to three seconds. And if he went all out, it could even reach a full five seconds.

Five seconds.

In battles between peers where victory could be determined within milliseconds, it could already be considered a dimensionality-reduction strike.

Although using the power of time still carried the flaw of enormous consumption and could easily drain him dry if used carelessly, holding this trump card made Muen feel completely qualified to fear no non-Crowned opponent.

Clearly, the pure-white man before him had not yet reached the level of a Crowned being.

“The one who dies... is you!”

The tremendous consumption from stopping time had already left Muen weakened, yet even in this state, killing a completely defenseless monster was not difficult.

Furthermore, Muen was already extremely close to the pure-white man.

Therefore, the only thing he needed to do...

Was swing his blade.

“Farewell, monster. I’m very busy. Next, I still have to finish my unfinished date!”

Muen held nothing back whatsoever. This strike directly targeted the pure-white man’s vital point, and he had already prepared the second slash, the third slash, ensuring that within these few seconds, he would reduce the creature into a mass of rotten flesh with absolutely no possibility of revival!

Slash!

The blade plunged deep into flesh. Before Elizabeth’s sharpness, nothing could resist!

However—

“Hm?”

Muen instinctively let out a puzzled sound.

Because within his suddenly contracted pupils, the first strike he swung did not smoothly sever the pure-white man’s head as expected.

Instead—

It struck a thick tentacle.

The tentacle was severed instantly, yet because of that, the fatal blow was avoided.

If the first strike failed, there should still have been a second strike. But the problem was—

Why was that tentacle there?

“Do you find it strange?”

The pupils within Donna’s face suddenly moved, staring at Muen. A horrifying smile curled at the corner of her lips.

At some unknown moment, the bloody color upon the pure-white man’s body had become vivid.

It was as though he had gradually escaped from that old photograph and returned once more into the real world.

His movements were extremely difficult at first. Only one tentacle could move.

But after merely one short second, his entire body regained normal mobility—

Within this region where Muen had frozen time.

“You’re wondering why I can move, aren’t you?”

The stunned disbelief on Muen’s face caused the pure-white man’s smile to grow even more mocking. Pointing at the face of Donna upon himself, he sneered:

“Don’t tell me you forgot, Muen Campbell. What exactly this octopus’s ability is?”

Octopus?

Donna?

Ability?

Muen’s mind spun rapidly. Soon, he recalled the moment he had confronted Donna before, racing desperately against time.

Donna’s ability was—

“Imitation... and invasion!”

“That’s right! Exactly!”

The lips belonging to Donna stretched high upward, nearly reaching her ears, making the expression extremely bizarre.

“And you already used this ability on her once earlier, didn’t you?!”

“...”

So that was it?

Muen suddenly understood why the pure-white man had gone to such lengths to first eliminate all the Salvation Society remnants.

In truth, the other abilities—whether Altair’s or Ghoul’s—were merely bonuses and fundamentally unimportant.

The truly important one among them...

Was Donna.

Because this special deep-sea magical beast possessed an extremely terrifying talent.

—To imitate another’s ability, then use the imitated characteristics to invade in reverse.

Just like before, when she imitated the aura of the Great Barrier and used it to reverse-invade the Great Barrier itself.

If even the Great Barrier could be invaded, then naturally Muen’s still-incomplete time-stop domain could as well.

Therefore, after Muen had already used time stop on Donna once before, then the second time...

It no longer had much effect.

The other side had already calculated this long ago.

“Do you understand now, Muen Campbell?!”

The fury and regret upon Muen’s face seemed to the pure-white man like the most delicious nourishment imaginable.

He spread his slender arms wide and laughed joyfully:

“If I did not possess absolute confidence, why would I come on behalf of my Lord to bestow upon you the blessing of the Stars? That’s right—my Lord has already informed me of your abilities, including your ability to influence time to a certain degree. This is a killing trap prepared specifically for you! In a one-on-one situation, you absolutely lose!”

“There is no... second possibility!”

Upon the pure-white man’s chest, the puppet doll’s eyes once more reflected a deep radiance.

The fifth twist.

“Crack...”

Muen heard the sharp grinding noise of bones and joints twisting.

And this time—

It came from his neck.

“This is bad.”

Such a thought involuntarily arose within Muen’s mind.

Black flames flickered, yet they could not reverse the spinal column already beginning to twist and deform.

Muen felt his body go numb as he rapidly lost control over his limbs...

Seeing this, the pure-white man became even more delighted. He had already begun involuntarily imagining what kind of blessing his Lord would grant him after Muen Campbell received the Lord’s grace?

“Holy Light!”

Ah!

That’s right.

That blessing would definitely be just like this light—so dazzling, so gentle, so—

“Hm?”

Wait.

Something was wrong.

How could his Lord’s blessing be dazzling? How could it be gentle?

And what was that voice shouting just now?

It sounded like...

Holy Light?

Now it was the pure-white man’s turn to freeze.

Holy Light?

What Holy Light?

Where did Holy Light come from?

At this moment, his confusion was no less than Muen’s when he discovered time stop had failed. But now the time stop had already ended, so a sacred radiance descended from the sky alongside a girl’s shout, directly enveloping Muen.

Muen’s head had only just rotated one hundred and eighty degrees when, beneath the healing of that warm light, it rotated right back into place.

“Hm?”

Discovering his neck was fine, Muen widened his eyes and instinctively looked toward the direction the voice came from.

Then he saw that adorably beautiful girl smiling brightly while vigorously blinking at him.

“Liya? Why are you here?”

The appearance of that pure-white figure left Muen extremely shocked. After all, this place existed within a crack in space, yet Liya had still managed to find it...

Had the Goddess really performed a miracle?

“I followed the spatial fluctuation you left behind to come here. Hmph, surprised?”

Liya placed her hands on her hips.

“Good thing I arrived in time. Otherwise you would’ve been in danger!”

“This... was an accident. Purely an accident. I was just slightly careless earlier.”

Muen rubbed his nose. After all, allowing the girl he loved to witness him in such a miserable state the moment she arrived really was a little embarrassing.

Still, he had to admit her timing was incredibly perfect. Otherwise, he truly might have suffered heavily here.

“It’s okay.”

Liya was gentle and adorable. Every smile and expression carried a charm that made one unable to resist pulling her directly into an embrace.

“You’re always the one helping me, Muen. This time, it’s my turn to help you!”

“Liya...”

Muen was incomparably moved. Receiving help at a crucial moment always warmed the heart.

As for An outside, Senior...

And however a third layer of dating had mysteriously begun at some point...

Not important.

None of that was important.

As long as I don’t think about it, the danger of a harem battlefield cannot frighten me.

I...

Am invincible.

Temporarily.

“This time... without those Church people dragging things down, I really want to stay with Muen a little longer.”

Liya spoke shyly.

“Of course. I want that too.”

Although his back had long since been soaked with cold sweat, at least the smile on his face remained completely flawless.

“Then after dealing with this guy, let’s first stay here...”

“That’s enough!”

Their affectionate gaze was interrupted directly. Clearly a single dog, the pure-white man could finally endure no longer and roared in embarrassment and rage.

“What do you mean, ‘after dealing with this guy’... Am I that easy to deal with? And what is going on here... what exactly is going on?! I already drove one away earlier, so why is another one suddenly interfering?!”

“Drove one away?”

Liya looked toward Muen in confusion. A gleam flashed through her bright watery eyes.

“Ahem... it’s nothing.”

Muen coughed dryly.

“Don’t overthink it. It’s absolutely not what you’re imagining.”

“Really?”

“Of course. How could I possibly—”

“That’s really enough!”

The pure-white man truly could not endure these two flirting with each other anymore. What exactly did they think this situation was?

This was a life-and-death battle!

He had prepared for so long specifically to fulfill his Lord’s command and kill Muen Campbell. Now victory was only a single step away—

How could these people ignore him like this?

Did they think this was over?

No!

“Die!”

The pure-white man directly used the puppet face once more to launch the curse.

The earlier fifth twist had failed, so this time—

It was still the fifth twist!

The fifth time was guaranteed death. This was the rule attached to this puppet. Until fulfilled, its curse would never disappear!

No one could stop it!

Thus—

Crack.

Muen’s neck twisted once more in response.

“Holy Light!”

Liya did not stop it. She merely shouted, causing sacred radiance to descend.

Muen’s neck instantly healed.

“Die!”

The pure-white man refused to believe it and continued!

Muen’s neck twisted.

“Holy Light!”

His neck healed.

“Die!”

Muen’s neck twisted.

“Holy Light!”

His neck healed.

“Die...”

His neck twisted.

“Holy Light!”

His neck healed...

“Enough already, damn it!”

Muen finally snapped.

“What the hell are you two treating my neck as? A tug-of-war rope?!”

Muen grabbed his own head and roared furiously at the two who were playing tug-of-war with increasing enthusiasm:

“Is this fun for you people?!”

“...”

“Honestly, it kind of is! I’ve never healed someone’s neck like this before!”

The pure-white man did not answer, but Liya suddenly became interested, her slightly black-bellied personality completely exposed.

“...”

Speechless, Muen could only glare at the other side furiously.

“And you, white ghost thing! You prepared for this long—don’t tell me this single move is your only killing technique? Can’t you change methods already? My neck is practically developing metal fatigue from all this twisting! Aren’t you bored?!”

“...”

The pure-white man instantly froze completely.

Other methods?

Hiss...

Thinking carefully about it, although he had prepared many things beforehand, the only move that could truly and completely kill Muen Campbell...

Really did seem to be only this one.

It couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t that his preparations were insufficient—

It was because Muen Campbell was simply too hard to kill!

If he had not taken such an unconventional path, how could he possibly complete his Lord’s command?

Heh, not use this move?

What, was he supposed to directly charge up and clash head-on with Muen Campbell instead, competing to see whose fists were harder and whose blade sharper?

What a joke. As long as someone wasn’t a Crowned being, Muen would beat them into dogshit.

So—

Crack.

Muen’s neck twisted once more.

“...”