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

“Who’s there?”

The instant the unfamiliar voice rang out, the pure-white man immediately became vigilant. He flipped upright, retreated backward, and assumed a defensive stance in one fluid motion.

His reaction was not excessive. Perhaps because this body had only just reformed, he had not sensed anyone approaching at all before this!

“Oh? So you really can talk!”

Seeing how swiftly the pure-white man reacted, the girl’s eyes immediately lit up.

She wore masculine martial attire, her long hair tied into a high ponytail, and her chest was completely flat. If not for her delicate and lovely face, it would have been impossible to determine her gender at a glance.

“A new species of magical beast? Could it sell for a lot of money?”

“Who the hell is a magical beast?! I’m a human!”

The pure-white man roared furiously. He felt that within this single day, he had suffered more discrimination than during the greater half of his entire life before this!

What was wrong with these women one after ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) another? Were they not even afraid?!

His current appearance should qualify as “horrifying” to ordinary humans, right? Where had all those cute creatures from his memories gone, the ones who trembled in fear at the sight of a cockroach? Had they already gone extinct?!

“Human?”

The girl tilted her head.

“Well, looking carefully, you barely count as humanoid. But in ruins this desolate, there are actually still humans alive? Strange. According to the information I received before, everyone in the Sea of the Abyss should already be dead.”

“Information?”

The pure-white man froze.

This human girl... was an adventurer who accidentally wandered in?

The pure-white man rapidly calmed down. He realized this person could not possibly be a pursuer sent by Muen Campbell, much less one of his lovers or anything similar. At least from the current situation, there was no substantive connection between them whatsoever.

She had merely appeared by coincidence.

In truth, similar situations had happened several times throughout the long years before this. Those humans calling themselves adventurers would explore ancient ruins, then accidentally be transported into this Sea of the Abyss.

After all, although this place existed within a crack in space, it still intersected reality through certain entrances. The probability was small, but such things were not strange.

“So it really was just a chance encounter?”

The pure-white man let out a long breath of relief.

Thank god she was not one of Muen Campbell’s lovers. If this kept happening, he was about to develop a stress response to the words “lover.”

And now that he had fully calmed down, the pure-white man finally had the leisure to carefully examine the girl before him.

Aside from the flatness of her chest shocking him somewhat—especially after he had just experienced the overwhelming impact of another girl’s mountainous curves earlier—the pure-white man discovered something even more surprising.

The martial realm of the girl before him... was only third-rank!

This was completely different from the terrifying strength and danger displayed by the previous two monster girls, so much so that the pure-white man actually felt an unreal sense of disbelief.

Had he sensed wrong?

No.

No matter how he sensed it, the girl before him was genuinely only third-rank.

She clearly possessed some martial technique that concealed her aura, but that technique was far too crude to completely hide it. Instead, it only further confirmed that this truly was her real realm!

“So this is what normal looks like...”

The pure-white man nearly burst into tears.

Although he no longer even had eyes at this point, the emotion was completely genuine.

Finally, a normal person had arrived...

So the world was still recognizable after all...

The only abnormal thing was Muen Campbell...

And his goddamn lovers...

“Hey, white thing, answer my question already.”

On the other side, after being ignored for so long, the girl frowned slightly, clearly displaying displeasure.

“Otherwise I’m going to use some special methods.”

“Special methods? Hah... fine then. Come a little closer and I’ll tell you the information about this place.”

The pure-white man suppressed the delight in his heart.

“Here?”

The girl showed no suspicion whatsoever and directly walked very close to the pure-white man.

So close that with one stretch of his overly long arm, he could touch her.

“That’s right! Right here! But if you want information from me, you’ll have to pay a tiny little price.”

“A price? What kind? I don’t really have much money on me right now, but if you’re willing to wait, I can probably get some from a certain guy. He’s very rich.”

“No, of course not money, but rather...”

Unfortunately he had no face right now. Otherwise, the pure-white man’s grin would likely have stretched to his ears already.

He “looked” at the girl before him as the joy in his heart once more rose from the abyss of despair into which he had been beaten earlier.

A weak human woman.

A foolish human woman!

Ah, this world was still so beautiful!

He would use her as an appetizer first to restore his mood, then slowly make plans to complete the task bestowed by his Lord and thoroughly kill Muen Campbell!

“First I’ll kill you, then I’ll deal with Muen Campbell! Hahaha, stupid woman, what I want is your li—gah?!”

BOOM!

Before he even finished speaking, before the joy inside him had fully erupted, the pure-white man felt his voice swallowed by a thunderous explosion.

First came the roar.

Then the scorching heat.

And finally, blinding crimson light!

“Huh?”

The pure-white man froze again.

He instinctively defended himself, but the strongest defense he erupted with at the moment of life and death was as fragile as paper before the terrifying attack in front of him.

That huge sword wrapped in bandages, which the girl had casually stabbed into the ground earlier, had somehow already reached him.

The bandages unraveled. Golden runes burst into brilliant radiance. Blazing flames coiled around the sword before condensing into a single point—

Then exploding outward like a tidal wave sweeping through everything!

Everything happened unbelievably fast. Aside from reactions born purely from instinct, the pure-white man had no time to do anything.

One moment earlier, he had still been rejoicing, still fantasizing about how after killing this girl he would make a comeback and finish off Muen Campbell.

The next moment, he was already lying on the ground, engulfed in raging flames.

The nearby blood pool reflected his appearance—

The greatsword had easily cleaved through his body, cutting him cleanly in half at the waist.

“Hey, you mentioned the name Muen Campbell just now, didn’t you?”

Because he was sprawled across the ground, the pure-white man could only see a pair of long legs slowly approaching him.

Muen Campbell?

Why was it Muen Campbell again?

This girl... knew Muen Campbell too?

Could she possibly also be...

Muen Campbell’s lover?!

“N-no... no, I still can’t die! I absolutely can’t die!”

The pure-white man could not understand the situation. He could not comprehend why this mere third-rank girl had suddenly exploded with such terrifying destructive power.

But driven by survival instinct, he moved immediately.

He took out an ancient bronze bell and shook it lightly. Invisible ripples spread outward, vaguely altering something.

This was an ancient relic capable of affecting human cognition to a certain degree. Earlier, he had relied on it to hide in plain sight, remaining visible yet ignored.

He believed that no matter what relationship this girl had with Muen Campbell, no matter whether her monstrousness rivaled the previous two, she absolutely could not break through this.

This rewrote cognition itself. From the moment the ancient relic took effect, in her eyes he would become nothing more than grass, a tree, or a stone.

How could she possibly break—

“Hey, what are you doing?”

The girl looked strangely at the pure-white man crawling along the ground, trying to leave like that, and asked in confusion:

“You’re not seriously thinking I’ll let you go, are you?”

“...?”

The pure-white man froze.

Completely froze.

More stunned than at any moment before.

If he could not beat her, fine.

If the girl before him was a complete monster, fine.

After all, today was not even the first time he had encountered this level of monster.

But this ancient relic was his trump card. It was the foundation of his confidence to start over.

So why...

“Wait, your eyes...”

Only now did the pure-white man suddenly realize that the girl’s pupils seemed different from normal human eyes.

Deep within them, a profound multicolored glow faintly lurked.

He recognized those eyes.

Eyes capable of ignoring almost any illusion, any disguise, directly seeing through to the essence of things, unaffected by any falsehood—

“The Delusion-Breaking Eye.”

The pure-white man’s voice trembled.

For the first time...

It was filled with despair.

This was an exceedingly rare special constitution. So rare that even within an entire era, the number of people possessing such eyes could be counted on one hand.

So rare that in the several hundred years he had lived, this was only the second time he had ever seen it.

And because of that, he knew very well...

The Delusion-Breaking Eye was the true nemesis of his trump card.

Before that absolute ability to “break delusion,” even an ancient relic was meaningless.

“Oh? You actually recognize my eyes? Looks like you really aren’t an ordinary magical beast.”

The girl walked closer and stomped the pure-white man’s head back onto the ground just as he raised it.

“But right now, I’m not interested in what exactly you are. So tell me properly...”

“...about this Muen Campbell you mentioned.”

...

...

“Ah... choo!”

Muen suddenly sneezed.

He did not know whether someone was missing him or cursing him.

He quickly looked around.

The sky was clear. The earth was bright.

It might even have been his imagination, but the stars in the heavens seemed farther away now.

The pure-white man had already been reduced to ashes beneath Liya’s earlier attack. There remained the possibility he still possessed some backup method, but in the short term he likely would not make a comeback again.

In short...

“The crisis has temporarily been resolved, right?”

Muen subconsciously touched his neck, feeling the warm skin and the flesh and bones beneath that had completely recovered.

For the first time, he felt that the word “happiness” was truly this simple.

The problem was solved.

And his neck was saved too.

Wonderful.

“Hehe, am I amazing?”

Before Muen could fully savor the beauty of this neck that could not possibly be any newer, a figure suddenly pounced onto him, nearly throwing out his waist again.

Liya tightly hugged Muen while greedily breathing in his scent.

“Hurry up and praise me!”

“Yes yes, my Liya is the absolute best!”

“So perfunctory!”

“What do you mean perfunctory? I’m speaking from the heart.”

Muen naturally wrapped his arms around the girl and spun her around by her slender waist—

Then immediately stopped.

No spinning.

Absolutely no spinning.

For a very long time to come, he would probably carry a slight psychological trauma toward the concept of “spinning in circles.”

“My Saintess is the greatest in the world. Though next time, if you could move a little faster, that’d be even better.”

Muen sighed sincerely.

“But I wanted to stay with you longer!”

Liya puffed out her cheeks.

“If I solved it too quickly, then I wouldn’t have any excuse to remain by your side.”

“You can stay whenever you want. You’re always welcome here.”

Muen smiled and hugged Liya a little tighter.

“Who’s going to stop you?”

“Hmph, tons of people stop me! Do you know that just mentioning your name gets me lectured by Lin forever?”

Liya complained unhappily.

Wasn’t it just because while praying to the Goddess in the morning, she also happened to think about Muen a little? Was that really such a serious matter?

Yet Lin had nagged her about it the entire morning!

Too excessive!

Even if she accidentally said “Muen” instead of “Goddess” during prayer, it should not have been such a huge issue! Even the Goddess herself would forgive her!

“T-that...”

Muen shuddered instinctively.

Although he knew no believers would ever imagine that their pure and holy Saintess was involved with Muen Campbell, merely the honor of hearing his name from her lips would already be enough to make their eyes burn red.

“Keep a low profile. You absolutely have to keep a low profile. That’s the key to long-term sustainability!”

Muen hurriedly warned her, genuinely afraid that one day Liya would be unable to endure lovesickness and directly expose him.

“I know that already! I’m not a child anymore!”

Liya complained resentfully.

“But what about you? Are you really that busy all the time? You never take the initiative to come see me. Every time it’s me coming to find you, and it’s always when you’re tangled up with other women.”

“Whether I’m busy depends on the time. Earlier, I genuinely couldn’t make room for it.”

“What about these past few days then? I’ve been here the whole time.”

“These past few days haven’t really been busy, so I was actually planning to...”

As he spoke, cold sweat suddenly began pouring down Muen’s forehead again.

The heart that had only just settled after surviving disaster suddenly rose back into his throat.

Shit!

He had been restrained earlier by that ghost thing, and then there had been the hour-long head-spinning torture, causing him to almost forget something extremely important!

This was not leisure time!

His date with An was still ongoing!

Muen hurriedly took out his pocket watch for a glance.

Thankfully, although a lot of time had passed, it was not entirely beyond saving.

According to Muen’s estimation, the time should still be insufficient for designing a truly beautiful outfit, meaning An should still be hard-locked at the tailor shop in the western district.

That side probably had not exploded yet.

But only temporarily.

If he did not hurry back to An’s side, and she discovered that he had actually spent this time fooling around with another woman—even if he had been forced into it—

It would explode.

It would absolutely explode!

“Hm? Why are you sweating so much?”

Liya took out a handkerchief to wipe Muen’s sweat while glancing up at the sky in confusion.

It was not even hot here.

“N-nothing.”

Muen took a deep breath, quickly gathered himself, then grabbed Liya’s shoulders seriously.

“Right, Liya. How did you get here? This Sea of the Abyss should exist within a crack in space. Under normal circumstances it should’ve been impossible to enter.”

“How did I get here? Of course I followed the aura you left behind.”

Liya blinked.

“Lin and I were on our routine patrol when I sensed your aura and rushed over immediately. Luckily, the spatial fluctuations there hadn’t dispersed yet. I just requested a little help from the Church, and then I got in!”

“I see.”

Muen nodded.

So it really was the first possibility Senior had mentioned?

Should he say his luck was good, or terrible?

Good because even such an absurdly slim possibility had actually happened. Liya had followed his aura here and helped him at the critical moment.

Terrible because the scale of the harem battlefield had now expanded to three people. One wrong move and he would face triple the pressure!

But still—

Only three people.

For someone who had experienced this many harem battlefields already, three people were still manageable as long as the whole thing had not completely exploded yet!

A true master would break one three-versus-one situation into three separate one-on-ones, fully utilizing the advantage of individual combat!

A mere harem battlefield.

Watch me solve it!

“Then let’s get out of here too.”

Muen hurriedly said.

“Use the same method you used to enter and bring me out as well.”

“Huh? We’re leaving already?”

Liya puffed out her cheeks unwillingly.

“Lin’s waiting outside for me. There might even be other Church reinforcements there by now. Once I go out, I won’t be able to act as freely as I can here. Only at night, when I’m not working...”

“Then tonight!”

Muen’s eyes lit up. He grabbed Liya’s little hand and spoke with deep sincerity and absolute devotion:

“Tonight, I’ll stay with you. If it’s inconvenient, you can choose any time you want. As long as I can do it, I absolutely will.”

“Really?”

“Of course it’s real. Would I lie to you? But for now, it’s better to leave as soon as possible. Look around—this place is too unfamiliar to us. It’s an Evil God’s dining table. Even though we dealt with that white thing, who knows what other weird monsters might appear later? To be safe, we should leave first! Safety is the most important thing—for both of us, and especially for you, Saintess.”

Muen spoke patiently and persuasively, never mentioning his own anxiety. Instead, he guided Liya into feeling the oppressive atmosphere of the environment itself.

Liya listened to his explanation and looked around.

Amid endless yellow sand, the ruined city stood alone. Beyond the traces left by their battle lay even more distant and mysterious unexplored regions. Looking into the distance, everything felt gloomy and terrifying.

Indeed, this was an unknown space. Moreover, it was territory once ravaged by Evil Gods, a place they could return to at any moment.

Neither she, the Church’s Saintess, nor Muen, the thorn in the side of multiple Evil Gods, should remain here for long.

“Alright. I’ll take you out as quickly as possible.”

“Thank go—cough cough.”

Muen coughed twice, replacing his joy with composure so Liya would not notice anything suspicious.

“That’s more like it. You’re a Saintess now. You need to pay more attention to your own safety.”

“Then thank you for worrying about me, my dear knight.”

Liya giggled.

But just as Muen assumed she would obediently bring them out immediately, the usually well-behaved Saintess suddenly rolled her eyes mischievously.

“Buuuut... although I really want to bring my dear knight out right away, there’s still one little problem.”

“A problem?”

“Spatial transfer isn’t something you can just casually use whenever you want! The activation conditions are extremely strict!”

“So?”

“So...”

Liya rose onto her tiptoes.

“It needs charging!”

“You shameless little pervert. I knew it.”

Muen was not surprised in the slightest. Although the little white rabbit possessed a slightly black-bellied personality, in this regard her intentions were completely obvious at a glance.

“You’re a dignified Saintess, and you go into heat at every opportunity. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“I do not!”

“Still acting stubborn? Let me properly discipline you and see whether your mouth’s really that stubborn!”

Without wasting any more time, Muen directly lowered his head and fiercely kissed those jelly-soft, tender lips.

“Mmm... mmf, I’m not!”

Liya responded vaguely before becoming completely unable to speak, because her little fragrant tongue, which had long been prepared and waiting, was swiftly captured by Muen after only a token struggle.

Unlike An’s aggressive “offering of self.”

And unlike Anna’s soul-stealing intertwining.

Liya’s charm came from the contrast between appearing reserved and dignified while actually starving for affection.

Like an elf from those strange romance stories who was “accidentally” corrupted by beastmen.

On the surface, the pitiful one seemed to be the “pure and innocent” elf.

But in reality...

“Mmm... harder...”

Liya’s eyes grew hazy and seductive, as though she were already melting completely within Muen’s embrace.

Yet she was also stronger than ever before. As a half-baked warrior, she actually forced Muen to step back half a step.

Naturally, Muen would never allow some horny Saintess to challenge the dignity of a macho man. He immediately slapped that water-soft pert backside hard, then took advantage of her soft cry to fiercely counterattack.

...

No one knew how long they remained tangled together.

When their lips finally parted, connected by threads of transparent nectar, the girl’s cheeks were beautiful like late-autumn sunset clouds.

Simply gazing upon them made one intoxicated, wishing to drown within them forever.

“I want more...”

Liya licked her lips.

Her lips were already slightly numb and sore, but she enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

“More?”

Muen blinked.

He was far beyond merely numb. At this point he felt as though his lips were about to lose all sensation from being gnawed on by this pack of little hungry wolves.

“What’s wrong with that? There’s nobody else here anyway.”

Liya acted spoiled.

“One more time. Just once!”

“...”

Muen fell silent.

Indeed, with no one else around, this truly was the best opportunity to be intimate with Liya.

Unlike the others, poor Liya alone could never allow these kinds of things to appear openly in the light.

Muen understood why Liya clung so tightly to every opportunity like this, even becoming somewhat excessively needy...

Because for the Church’s pure, holy, untouchable Saintess, such opportunities were truly very, very rare.

It made refusing her impossible.

“Alright. One more time.”

Muen subconsciously swept his gaze across the surroundings. Although much of what he said earlier had been to trick Liya into leaving, he truly could not lower his guard here either.

“After this, you’re taking me out obediently.”

While observing the surroundings, Muen earnestly reminded her.

One more time was just one more time. It was not as though he lost anything from it. There should still be enough time before An’s side became critical.

As long as the harem battlefield did not explode, everything remained under his control—

Hm?

“Okay okay, why are you as naggy as those Great Sisters? There’s nobody else watching here. Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed? Hurry up and—hm? Muen?”

Liya urged him impatiently, only to discover that Muen, who had been holding her, suddenly stiffened like a statue.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Liya blinked in confusion and followed his line of sight.

Then she saw—

A girl dressed in masculine martial attire, her long hair tied into a high ponytail, her chest completely flat, and whose gender would have been impossible to identify at a glance if not for her delicate and lovely face— ℯℯ𝘭.

Standing not far away.

Blankly.

Dumbly.

Stupidly...

Staring at the two of them.

“Ariel?!!”