Stealing Heroines’ Affections Is My Job as the Villain

Vritra finished eating his grapes, dusted his hands, and burped comfortably.

"Ahhh yes, that hit the spot."

He rose from the massive golden throne he was seated on and walked over to the grand coffin, where he could see Sadim's withering corpse.

He simply stared at it with a plain expression.

It was almost as though he wasn't even looking at the dead body of someone he'd been speaking with moments ago… but that's because he wasn't. Stay connected via empire

"How did you know…?"

Sadim's voice sounded, and Vritra calmly turned to look at the young hero with a mild smile.

He wasn't even surprised that there were two Sadim's in this grand throne room, which served as the final dungeon floor.

The young lord clapped for Sadim.

"You've done an excellent job keeping your true identity a secret all this time, but now… I think that's over."

"What do you mean…?"

Sadim tried his best to act clueless, but he knew that was pointless at this juncture. The young lord standing before him knew all his secrets from A to Z, and at this point, any attempts to act ignorant would simply be the height of stupidity.

Prince Vritra held up an index finger and grinned.

His grin was evil and purely malicious.

It was the same sort of smile he had every single time he caught a hero or his enemies in his trap.

It was a smile of impure victory.

"Everything about the Gold Rock Dungeon, how you can't live without Rosemarie's love, the fact that you're a destined hero, how you know so much about the Red Desert and feel so attached to it… even Midas's endless greed…"

A small, disturbing laugh escaped Vritra's mouth.

"It all makes sense now…"

He pointed at Sadim as his eyes glowed red.

"… or rather, it's always made sense."

The more he spoke, the wider his grin became, and the sharper his fangs grew, like the monster he truly was.

The monster everyone had deeply feared ages ago.

"From the moment the System told me your name, Sadim Goldtouch, I already knew every single thing about you. Your Fate Value was so incomprehensibly high that the System refused to give me your real name, but I didn't need to know it, not even in the slightest… you're the main reason I went to Gladius City, the main reason I formed alliances with Rosemarie's father, Edmond Redwood, and your adoptive father, Gordias Yellowstone."

He started taking steps toward Sadim, and the young hero began stepping back in fear.

Sadim's eyes trembled with a degree of fear he never knew he was capable of feeling.

『I'm a divine human… I've faced gods… how can I be afraid of this ancient god to this extent?!』

He could feel his hands trembling and his heart pounding like a hammer against stone.

Before Sadim could even finish blinking, Vritra appeared in front of him and pressed his finger between Sadim's sweating brows, snarling like a bloodthirsty demon.

"I know you're Midas Goldtouch. A supreme king born as a sacred human who lived long enough to anger the powerful gods of the Heaven Continent."

There was no hiding the truth.

There had never been a truth to hide… the young lord had known from the start.

"How did you know…?" Sadim asked.

Vritra just laughed at the question and gave him a light pat on the shoulder, relishing the moment.

"You know, Midas, you have quite a sense of humor. I deeply apologize for not telling you this earlier. Sadim backward is Midas, by the way… such a cheesy move, but hey, you don't see me complaining, do you?"

He patted him on the shoulder even more, but this time with so much care that it felt as though the young lord was trying hard to mock him in the most polite and unassuming manner possible.

And truly, it was working.

Sadim was provoked… completely, in fact. But the fear he felt forced him to stand in place like a soldier being addressed by his king.

『He knew everything…』

From start to finish.

And now that the System had recognized the level of knowledge Vritra was holding, this instantly broke the barrier of fate that had kept Vritra from knowing the full truth about Sadim.

While the System fed him all the information, Vritra repeated each word as though he were narrating the hidden life story of Midas to his little friend.

"A long time ago, there was a king named Midas, a ruler of an ancient family known as House Goldtouch. They were famous for their immense wealth, but Midas himself wasn't born with his legendary [golden touch]. That came later, as both a gift and a curse from the god Dionysus.

"See, Midas was a good king, humble and kind. He genuinely wanted to bring endless prosperity to his people, so he wished for the power to do just that. Dionysus, intrigued, decided to grant him this wish. But there was a catch Midas didn't see coming. Everything he touched—food, family, even the walls of his palace—turned into solid gold.

"At first, his family was horrified, but they couldn't ignore the power and fortune it brought. They grew obsessed, hoarding all the gold, turning the kingdom into a prison of endless riches. The people suffered, and so did Midas, eaten up by regret. He begged Dionysus to take back the curse, to undo everything, but the god wasn't having it. Dionysus felt that Midas had let his greed cloud his heart, ignoring the pain he was causing.

"In a final, desperate plea, Midas threw himself at Dionysus' mercy. But the god wouldn't forgive him. Instead, Dionysus struck Midas down and, as punishment, sealed him and his family beneath the earth in a deep dungeon of golden rock and stone. That cursed place came to be known as the Gold Rock Dungeon, where Midas and his treasure are said to lie buried forever, guarded by layers of powerful divine magic."

By the time Vritra finished his story, the fear that had been weighing heavily on Sadim's heart had somehow faded.

Maybe he felt a sense of relief, now that someone else knew his secret.

House Yellowstone was aware of the truth, but only on the surface.

Only Sadim and Dionysus truly understood the full history they shared… the secrets hidden within it and the dark web of lies spun from it.

Feeling calmer, Sadim steadied himself and spoke with newfound confidence.

"So, you know everything…"

"Ah, ah… don't try to act smart. We both know that's not all of it, but let's pretend it is, alright?"

"Huh?"

Sadim raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Rather than pay him any attention, Vritra looked at Midas's coffin and studied the withering corpse closely.

"I still don't know what you want with Rosemarie… or even why you have two bodies, but I do have a little theory."

He stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm guessing, for some reason, you were able to break Dionysus's magic seal before your soul was completely destroyed and transferred it into this body. House Yellowstone is obviously a descendant of the Goldtouch family, and it correlates with the name of this dungeon, too. Yellow stone? Golden rock? Come on, can't you do anything better than come up with cheesy names?"

There was no response from Sadim.

He just stared venomously at Vritra as a golden energy slowly started to wrap around his right hand.

Vritra looked down at the hand and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What's this supposed to b──!"

Before the young lord could even finish, Sadim's hand shot out and grabbed Vritra's face with a speed that surprised even him.

Sadim's eyes narrowed like a serpent's, and his true form slowly blossomed like a marigold in the sun.

White hair, golden eyes, skin smoother than butter and more radiant than the sun itself.

He almost looked like an angel.

"You're immortal, but that doesn't mean you're unstoppable. Not in the slightest."

The instant Vritra heard this, he moved his hands to try to remove Sadim's grasp, but his hands immediately turned to gold, and before the young lord could even react, these arms shattered into pieces.

Sadim didn't even rejoice at this.

He knew that, at his full power, such a feat was child's play.

"I know you're far from your full strength… after all, you don't even possess your [God Star] anymore. Yes, I know about it. After all, I was there in the Shritnar Kingdom when you swallowed that Sun and almost plunged the realm into darkness."

He gripped Vritra's head even tighter, as though trying to crush it like clay.

The young lord grunted and smiled at this.

"Oh, it seems my reputation precedes me. I was almost starting to think you didn't personally recognize me, you filthy divine human scum."

"Be silent…"

With that, Sadim crystallized Vritra into a golden statue and left him there.

"The others probably think we're dead. But at least now, one of us is… I'll be taking my leave while you remain sealed in that state. Perhaps I should've done this sooner."

More than anything, Sadim hadn't wanted to use his powers.

But it seemed inevitable at this point.

Sadim held out a hand and tore a rift through space.

A golden portal warped into existence and on the other side he could see Rosemarie and Vritra's female companions weeping in deep pains.

He felt nothing… absolutely nothing.

Sadim walked through the portal and vanished.

Right after he disappeared, another portal opened.

It was white and cool, like the gate to a heavenly world, and the person who stepped out of it was a beautiful woman—no, not just a woman, an absolute goddess.

She had scarlet hair, striking golden eyes, and skin so white and pristine it looked like milk reflecting in cold water. She was curvaceous, her body temptingly elegant, but what made her even more enticing was the fullness of her chest and the salacious plumpness of her fat behind.

It was God Dionysus.

She folded her arms and looked at the golden statue that Vritra had become and sighed softly.

"Oh Vritra…"