I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain

He brought them along to collect the spoils of the mountain stronghold. The search for spoils had become much more important than when it was just a game. Once they died, it was the end. Neither the demons nor the humans could be revived or regenerated anymore. The same applied to the loot.

It was inefficient to search the vast mountain stronghold alone, so even though he didn’t trust these villagers, he asked for help. “I won’t tell you to leave behind any necessary items or money for your village, but don’t forget to bring anything valuable to me, especially if it’s hard to judge its value.”

Ian glanced at each of the young men with a penetrating gaze, as if he were memorizing their faces. “Let me make it clear that I despise repaying kindness with betrayal. I hate it to the point of not even wanting to breathe the same air with that person.” It was a statement meant to instill fear. It wasn’t entirely empty words, but Ian added while looking at the hesitant young men. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!” The young men shouted in unison.

Ian nodded casually. “Then let’s disperse.”

The young men scattered like hyenas, their eyes gleaming.

“Don’t just focus on the treasure. Hold your swords tightly and be cautious. There may still be survivors.” After adding a final word of caution, Ian followed leisurely behind the tavern owner. “Tavern owner, you’re going to move with me.”

“Well, all right.” The tavern owner approached with a friendly demeanor. He had more fat than muscle, but he still had a sturdy body. If he had chosen to be a knight or a barbarian warrior, there would have been fewer people underestimating and attacking him. “It seems you need some help.” The tavern owner remarked.

Ian turned his body to respond. “You seem to have a talent for finding valuable items.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you from the military? It seems like you’ve been experienced in looting.”

The tavern owner smirked. “Technically, I’m a former regular soldier of Bellonde. You have a good eye.”

Ian shrugged his shoulders.

The tavern was a place Ian frequently visited for quests, even in the game. And almost all tavern owners were either rogues or former soldiers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the nerve to run a tavern in the first place. This tavern owner had the demeanor of a retiring sergeant, at least that’s what Ian thought. It was a simple deduction.

“We’re here.”

Ian entered the heart of the mountain stronghold. It was the open space where he had beheaded the kobold chieftain.

“Is that the chieftain?” The tavern owner pointed to the middle of the area where a large battle axe and a headless gray body lay. In front of them was the abandoned black sword that Ian used to wield.

Ian nodded and the tavern owner let out a sigh of admiration.”It’s not my first time seeing a kobold chieftain, but it’s the first time I’ve seen one this big. No wonder it’s head seemed so huge.”

The chieftain’s abnormal size was comparable to that of the tavern owner. Kobolds usually had the build of young children and this one was even wearing armor and adorned with various trinkets. The armor was leather, and the trinkets were mostly made from animal fangs or claws.

“You can tell just by looking at his face that he was young and would have grown even bigger in the future.” Ian said as he crouched

“I had no idea. Anyway, it would have been terrifying if it had grown even bigger.”

“Yes, it probably would’ve stormed the village and killed all of you because those vigilantes were so bad.”

In fact, that’s exactly what had happened in the game. Ian had arrived in the village much earlier than in the game timeline. Even though he had been in this reality for more than a year, the kobolds had not yet grown strong enough to rule the forest and threaten the village. This kobold chief was one of the war chiefs he had easily cleared before, but the rewards were much better this time.

Ian took off the chief’s ornaments one by one and examined them. Soon his eyes lit up, “There it is.”

The tavern owner, who was squatting in the distance, asked. “What do you mean?”

Ian lifted the necklace and showed it. “This has got some value.”

“All I can see is a red-eyed, eerie stone.”

“You saw it correctly.” Ian put on the Blood Eye necklace, a rare accessory that increases strength and stamina by 1 and mental strength by 3. It was partly due to this necklace that the chieftain was much calmer than the other kobolds.

The tavern owner, who was looking at the necklace with uneasy eyes, said. “You seem to have a different eye for valuables. I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Help me with his armor.”

The tavern owner raised the chief’s corpse.

Ian murmured, “It’s filthy heavy,” but started to take off his tattered armor with familiarity. He put his hand on the armor and discovered that it was an accessory that could confirm information but was not particularly useful and seemed difficult to mend. “You take the armor and that axe. That would be just right.”

“Are you okay? In my eyes, these look more precious than that necklace.”

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not free.” Ian calmly added, hiding his true feelings. That battle ax looked intact on the outside, but it was in a state where it would break after a few bumps. “While I am in town you’ll have to bring me work.”

The tavern owner tilted his head. “Quests like clearing out kobolds?”

“Yes, whether they’re big or small, it doesn’t matter as long as the rewards are certain.”

That was the real purpose of calling the tavern owner. Before he fell into this world, he had glanced at the list of essential side quests in the walkthrough, but he didn’t see everything. No matter how much his intelligence had improved, he couldn’t know things he hadn’t seen. On the other hand, it was impossible for him to personally search for all the quests. So he intended to let the quests find him. Among them, there would certainly be some clues.

The tattered armor and the almost broken axe were the price for that information, but it was a profitable deal in many ways.

“Well, I’m surprised.” The tavern owner, who had been observing Ian for a while, muttered. It was a tone tinged with admiration.

Ian smirked. “Did you think I would just eat food all the time like those vigilantes?”

The tavern owner nodded “It’s true. I would not expect a person like you to get stuck in a rural area like this for too long.”

“I will leave when my business is finished.” He planned to clear as many quests as possible, even if it led to different results from the story he experienced in the game. Ian surveyed the chief’s body without a shirt, hiding his satisfaction. His gaze immediately fixed on a large black bead embedded in the center of the chief’s chest; there were thick veins around it that hadn’t subsided yet. It was the best loot he could obtain from the chieftain.

“Is this a cursed bead?” The tavern owner muttered again.

Ian nodded again. “Something like that.”

“Oh my goodness. Lou Sola…” The tavern owner closed his eyes and muttered the name of the deity.

“Your dagger.” Ian reached out his hand. The tavern owner, with a disgusted expression, drew out his dagger and handed it over. Without hesitation, Ian stabbed the dagger into the

chieftain’s chest and dug out a solid, black bead glistening with blood. Something ominous seemed to be wiggling inside.

The tavern owner turned his gaze away and asked, “What kind of curse is it?”

“It contains tainted magic. A lot of it.”

“Are you saying that this chieftain used black magic?”

“The person who put this bead in probably used it. It’s also his last testament. He became subservient to the powerful being who gave him strength. Now that the chieftain is dead, it’s probably just a concentrated essence of tainted magic.”

The tavern owner narrowed his eyes. “So, does that mean there’s someone who wants these things to spread?”

“That’s right.”

“What purpose could they have for such deeds? Becoming a dark wizard tainted by the madness of the Black Wall…” he trailed off

“I don’t know. It’s over, so forget about it.” He told the tavern owner. “Besides, that damn dark wizard will eventually die by my hand.” Ian muttered to himself as he wiped the blood from the essence of tainted high-level magic. If he had been a dark wizard, he could have used it right away.

In Aquilonia, all characters could choose ‘corruption.’ It was additional content in the first expansion pack. Knights became dark knights, barbarian warriors became berserkers, mages became dark wizards, scouts became assassins, and priests became ancient clergy. According to the strategy guide, the character’s skills along with their choices and quests would change.

Ian didn’t choose corruption because his level would be reset and he didn’t know how that would change the skill tree afterwards. He also couldn’t predict how his relationships with the main characters would change. As he considered his options, he realized the cons outweighed the pros.

Once he purified this essence, he would be able to use it in its current state or create something which would likely save his life at least once. “I remember there was a priest in Argelran who had the ability to purify tainted objects.” Ian put the essence in his pocket. More precisely, he pretended to put it in his pocket and moved it to a different space.

The inventory, which was originally provided with 12 slots in the game, had now been replaced with a small pocket dimension. It was still small, so it couldn’t hold as many items as before. Nevertheless, it was like a personal safe and he never had to worry about his items being stolen.

“It seems I’m done with this guy.” Ian handed the dagger over and stood up.

The tavern owner, with an uneasy expression, asked, “Where to next?”

Ian pointed to the back of the empty lot towards a relatively well-formed shack. “Now it’s time to rob this guy’s house.”

The tavern owner’s eyes lit up. He eagerly took the lead. “Let’s go. I’m curious to see what the kobold chieftain has stashed away.” More likely, he was curious about what kind of trouble would arise this time. Ian followed leisurely behind.

The loot collected by the village youths filled the cart and there was still more left. From scrap metal to logs and even unusable armor to relatively intact kobold corpses. Most of it was junk that Ian wouldn’t have bothered with if he had come alone.

Ian selected the most valuable items, a few gemstones and silver coins. Even though they were worth only a handful, they were more valuable than all the junk combined. It was an income obtained without spending any time or effort. There were also gemstones found in the chieftain’s hut, so overall, it could be considered a successful search.

Ian turned his head towards the young men who stood in a row, each of their pockets bulging. “They really did a good job collecting.” Ian muttered to himself as he looked them over one by one.

The young men froze like frogs in front of a snake as Ian’s gaze fell on them. His eyes were emitting an eerie glimmer, it was his Vision, a magic detection skill. Although it was only level 1, it was sufficient to identify something imbued with magic.

Ian paused, a green light flickered inside one of the bulging pockets of the young men that was vividly clear to his eyes. He didn’t know what it was, but it was clear that it was an object infused with magic. He looked at the young man’s face. He was a rustic fellow with a seemingly stupid face and a peculiarly pale complexion. Bitterness outweighed anger in his expression. He had warned him, after all. “Why are you so foolish?”

“What?” The young man trembled, his lips quivering. It seemed he knew he had done something wrong.

There was no time for contemplation. Ian drew his sword from his waist, after all, most of these dark era scumbags only learned their lesson after seeing blood. “Empty your pockets.”

The village youth’s faces suddenly tensed and their eyes focused on the trembling young man. The young man’s lips trembled again. “Well, um…”

Ian didn’t say anything and gripped his sword. As he was about to cut the young man’s throat, Ian’s eyes suddenly narrowed, focusing on the flickering green light as it grew stronger. He could see the magic seeping into the youth’s body became more distinct.

Ian looked at the young man’s face again; pale complexion, trembling lips, unfocused eyes. “You couldn’t communicate from the beginning.”

“That, that’s- What is it? Tha… th… extreme-.” The young man’s voice became eerie, as if scraping metal. His eyes widened and filled with purple light as strong purple magic oozed from his entire body.

“What-” The surrounding youths recoiled in shock.

A bone-chilling sound filled the air as the young man’s arm and shoulder twisted in a grotesque direction. It looked like a kind of mutation process.

“So damn creepy.” Of course, he had no intention of waiting until that process was over. Ian’s sword, which had paused for a moment, flashed again as he swung it.

“Clink!” Just as the sword was about to sever the young man’s throat his backward hand grabbed the blade. Although the blade penetrated more than half of his hand, the young man seemed to feel no pain. His eyes, swirling with purple magic, stared straight at Ian.

A metallic and eerie voice flowed out chuckling, “You’re impatient, trying to behead the boy before I am finished with him.”

Ian’s eyes narrowed. He thought at most the guy would be possessed or consumed by a curse. “So there was an intruder.”