Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel - Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Human Respect
At first, there was no sound.

The world seemed to freeze and even the wind stopped moving. And then, all at once, there was a deep rumble that swallowed everything.

An explosion erupted, shaking the very air.

The shockwave rolled outward like a roaring beast, tearing through the ruins and blasting everything in its path.

The ground cracked, the sky lit up with blinding light, and the entire town was consumed by it.

Buildings crumbled into dust.

The old stone walls shattered apart.

The abominations… every last one of them, both those standing in plain sight and those hiding within cracks or shadows were vaporized where they stood.

Their screams didn’t even have time to form.

In a single instant, they were gone.

When it was over, there was nothing left but silence… and smoke.

[ @LuciusMain: BRO JUST WIPED THE MAP 😭🔥🔥🔥 ]

[ @SaintFan87: He soloed an entire army… no cap. ]

[ @WatcherPrime: Is he even human? That blast was S-rank level at LEAST ]

[ @P40Watcher: Drone barely survived that shockwave lmao. ]

[ @SpaceUser: I swear, Lucius gotta be A-rank already. No way he’s not. ]

‘Fuck… I burned too much mana just to look cool,’ Lucius thought dryly as he tilted his head at the desolation.

A dull ache ran through his temples, and blood began trailing down from the corners of his eyes.

He wiped it away lazily with the sleeve of his uniform.

“Tch.” The afterburn in his body throbbed like fire.

Still, he turned his gaze to Rita, who was still trembling in his hand.

“Hey,” he asked softly. “are you okay?”

Rita’s eyes met his, and for the first time, the confident Saintess didn’t look like the powerful, untouchable woman she always was.

Her lips trembled slightly and her usual composure was gone… She looked very submissive.

“Y… yeah,” she stammered.

She blinked a few times before glancing around, clearly avoiding his eyes.

“Your arm feels warm,” she muttered, “but don’t look at me.”

Then it hit her.

The cold air brushing her chest, the sudden realization that the front of her dress had been torn earlier.

Her face turned crimson as she raised her hand to cover it.

“Alright, put me down!” she barked quickly.

Lucius obliged, setting her gently on the ground. He took a deep breath, then sighed as he reached for his collar.

Without hesitation, he pulled off the shirt of his uniform and held it out toward her.

He wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

The light from the smoldering ruins glinted off the toned muscles of his torso with defined lines running across his abs and shoulders like carved steel.

“Here,” he said simply. “Wear it if you want.”

Rita’s breath hitched.

She stared at the shirt for a second before quickly averting her eyes.

“Keep it… You’re not wearing anything underneath,” she muttered.

“I’m a man,” Lucius said flatly. “I can walk shirtless. You, on the other hand, can’t exactly keep holding your dress shut while we’re on stream.”

He gestured toward the hovering P40 drone in the distance… It was covered by the smoke now but it would soon clear. “Unless you want your body being broadcasted to a few million people.”

Her face burned even hotter.

“I get it! Alright.” She snatched the shirt from his hand and turned her back quickly. “Thank you…” she added in a quiet voice.

As she slipped the shirt on, Lucius turned away out of courtesy, stretching his neck as he looked at the still-clearing smoke.

When the air around them finally cleared, the camera zoomed in.

The scene looked like something out of a painting… Lucius was shirtless, walking calmly through the mist while the Saintess stood behind him, wearing his shirt.

[ @SaintLucius: A true gentleman 😭👏 ]

[ @Viewer77: Why is this so romantic… ]

[ @LunaSimp_: SAINTESS X LUCIUS IS CANON 💘💘 ]

[ @RaidWatchHQ: Bro is BUILT. Dude’s torso is insane 😭 ]

[ @BodyGoals: Look at those abs. I want the Lucius physique 😩 ]

[ @SaintSimp777: Nahhhh, man’s really shirtless and saving women again 💀 ]

[ @DroneAddict: That angle was perfect. The drone knows what it’s doing 😭 ]

‘His shirt is big,’ Rita thought quietly, clutching the fabric at her chest. ‘And it smells like him too… Damn it. Stop. You hate men. Remember that.’

When they rejoined the main group, Vanessa immediately rushed over to his side, fumbling with her storage ring.

“I expected you’d lose your clothes,” she said dryly.

She pulled out a fresh uniform shirt from her inventory and held it out to him. “Come on, stop showing off and put it on before someone faints.”

Lucius chuckled. “Jealous?”

She nodded with a pink face.

As Lucius began pulling the new shirt over his head, a large shadow loomed before him. He paused halfway through with the shirt covering his face.

“Where are the corpses of the mages?” came a deep voice. It was Superior Man.

Lucius finished adjusting his shirt, then looked up at him. “What?”

“The Wind mages who were killed earlier,” Superior Man said sternly. “Their families will want their bodies. We can’t leave them scattered.”

His glare softened slightly. “You handled the fight well, but don’t forget the dead.”

Lucius’s eyes flickered.

“They’re fine,” he said casually. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Instantly, the smoke surrounding the ruins began to thin and swirl away. The wind picked up, clearing the area completely.

And as the haze lifted, the bodies of the fallen mages appeared, lying neatly in a row…

Even the ground beneath them seemed smooth and was free of scorch marks.

“Thank you,” Superior Man said quietly.

He nodded to Lucius before turning toward his guild members. “Bag them and prepare the storage rings. We’ll hold their burial once this raid ends.”

The Grimmaw and Saintess guild members began moving immediately, retrieving the fallen.

Luna directed the drone to zoom out, capturing the vast scope of the destruction.

The group marched for nearly half an hour until they stood at the base of the tower they’d seen earlier.

It was enormous up close.

The walls were thick and uneven, made of dark, ancient stone.

Every surface was cracked and worn, covered in vines. The tower’s windows were thatched and had narrow slits that looked more like eyes than openings.

“A-rank raids take quite some time,” Vanessa said beside Lucius. “If we’re lucky, we could finish this in a week or so.”

Lucius sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “A week, huh? So no rest for me, then.”

Behind them, the rest of the group gathered… Grimm, Raven, Trisha, Felix, and the others, all looking up at the same tower.

“This place doesn’t even look scary,” Grimm said with a grin, folding his arms. “Bet it’s just a bunch of old ghosts or—”

The words hadn’t even finished leaving his mouth before it happened.

A screech. A sound so loud and sharp it pierced the eardrums. The tower shuddered, the walls trembling as if something inside had awakened.

Then, from the thatched windows, something burst out.

Monsters… they were winged, furious, and massive.

They looked like griffins at first glance, but only barely.

Their heads were too big, their beaks had cracked and were dripping with red bile.

Their eyes were uneven and glowing with sickly light.

The feathers on their wings were half flesh, half bone and their lion-like bodies were covered in jagged scales that looked more like shards of glass than skin.

Some had extra limbs sprouting from their sides, twitching unnaturally as they flew.

Their screeches filled the air again, sounding through the ruins like a hundred shrieking trumpets.

Luna’s drone camera shook slightly as the creatures circled overhead. The Awakeners below braced themselves with their weapons ready, staring up at the monstrosities descending from the tower.

And then the first one dove straight toward them.