Villain's Evolution: Investing in My Minions Yields Crazy Returns!

Victor barely glanced at the system notification covering his entire retina. Then, he slowly raised his head, looking toward the distant Ryan and Leah, who were completely stunned.

A weak smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

”What are you standing there for? Come help me up.”

The moment the words left his mouth, his body finally lost its support, and he fell forward.

At this very moment, in the distant forest, several powerful mana fluctuations were rapidly approaching.

The academy’s rescue team had arrived!

However, when they clearly saw the scene in the center of the rocky forest, everyone involuntarily stopped in their tracks.

The earth was covered in countless spiderweb cracks and deep fissures, and the surrounding forest was engulfed in flames. In the middle of the devastation lay the huge Abyssal Bone Spike Wolf, completely motionless in a pool of blood, having lost all signs of life.

The whole scene looked like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb test.

A rescue instructor slowly opened his mouth wide. ”This... Who did this?!”

Ryan silently looked at Victor lying on the ground, his expression extremely complicated. The instructor followed his gaze and understood what had happened.

Leah had already broken free from his support and was running desperately toward that figure covered in blood.

”Young Master!”

By the time Leah rushed to Victor’s side, he had already completely lost consciousness.

The young girl knelt on the ground and reached out to help him up, but the moment she saw the extent of his injuries, her entire body froze.

Victor’s chest was almost completely soaked in blood, his left arm was covered in dark purple burn marks, and his right hand, which had been gripping his sword, was a bloody mess. Even though he was unconscious, his brows remained tightly furrowed, clearly indicating that he was enduring tremendous pain.

”Young Master... Young Master!” Leah’s voice began to tremble.

She had never seen Victor in such a miserable state before.

In her impression, this young master of the Alves family always seemed calm and composed. No matter what situation he faced, he could resolve it effortlessly.

But now, he had nearly died here trying to save her.

”Don’t touch him!” An urgent voice suddenly came from behind.

The leading rescue instructor hurried over and crouched down to examine Victor’s injuries. His expression immediately turned extremely grim.

”Fractured sternum, at least three broken ribs, torn ligaments in the left shoulder, severe muscle damage in the right arm... Damn it! How on earth did he manage to hold on until now?!”

”Healers! Quickly!”

Two healers dressed in white robes immediately rushed over. Gentle green light surged from their palms, rapidly enveloping Victor’s body.

However, when the healing mana came into contact with the dark purple patterns on his left arm, a faint sizzling sound suddenly erupted.

”Abyssal corruption!” The healers’ expressions changed drastically. ”And the concentration is extremely high!”

”Ordinary healing spells can’t remove it directly!” The leading instructor gritted his teeth. ”Stabilize his vital signs first! Contact the Academy Medical Center immediately and prepare an advanced purification array!”

”Understood!”

Everyone quickly got to work.

Leah knelt beside them, her hands tightly clutching the corners of her clothes. Her face was so pale that not a trace of color remained.

She wanted to help.

However, the Astral Core inside her body was still in a chaotic state. She couldn’t even properly mobilize the most basic astral mana.

More importantly, what frightened her most was the possibility that releasing astral mana again might trigger a reaction with the residual abyssal corruption inside Victor’s body.

”He’ll be fine.” Ryan had walked over at some point. His left shoulder had already received basic treatment to stop the bleeding. Although his face was still somewhat pale, he could at least move normally.

Leah didn’t raise her head.

”How do you know?”

Ryan fell silent for a moment. Then, he looked toward the Abyssal Bone Spike Wolf lying on the ground, completely devoid of life.

”Someone capable of killing a monster like that won’t die so easily.”

His words weren’t particularly convincing. But Leah still nodded gently. For now, that was all she could believe.

...

Meanwhile, in the outer monitoring station.

The entire hall was still immersed in an indescribable sense of shock.

On the enormous magical screen, the footage of Victor’s final sword strike had already been replayed three times.

Each time the crimson sword light erupted from the Abyssal Bone Spike Wolf’s neck and completely pierced through the Level 45 magical beast, the instructors present couldn’t help drawing sharp breaths.

”Unbelievable...” A middle aged instructor slowly removed his glasses. ”I refuse to believe that child is only Level 22. He actually managed to kill a berserk Second Tier magical beast in a direct confrontation.”

”And he didn’t rely on some disposable forbidden artifact either.”

Another instructor picked up the conversation, his expression complicated.

”Although his weapon is Epic grade, what truly determined the outcome was his ability to interfere with the circulation of abyssal mana, along with those final attacks that were accurate to an almost unbelievable degree.”

”Especially that last sword strike. He seemed to have identified the weak point in the Abyssal Bone Spike Wolf’s mana circulation around its neck in advance. By repeatedly attacking the same location, he was finally able to deliver the fatal blow.”

”Is that really the kind of combat judgment a nineteen year old student should possess?”

No one answered because the answer was already right before their eyes.

What made it even harder for them to accept was that Victor’s previous evaluation at the academy had never been particularly outstanding.

The only son of Duke Alves.

An illustrious family background.

An arrogant personality.

Someone who relied on his family’s influence to act however he pleased.

That was the impression the vast majority of people had of him.

As for his strength?

Although he wasn’t exactly weak, he had been nowhere near the level that warranted special attention from the academy.

But today, everything they thought they knew had been completely overturned.

”Seal the recording.”

At that moment, a steady voice suddenly came from the entrance of the hall.

Everyone turned around and saw an elderly man dressed in a dark blue robe slowly walking inside.