Struggling as a Villain

Brad was suspicious of this guy who introduced himself as Collen.

He looked like someone from a noble family, and that shaved hair seemed to be a ploy, to make people not suspicious of him.

The way he sits, talks, and fearlessly looks at people despite them being twice the size of the boy, suggests that he belonged to a family of knights. Yeah, probably.

The moment Brad saw him, he had a feeling that this guy wouldn't be able to survive with that attitude...and given how beautiful he looked, there was a chance for a weirdo to fancy him.

That's why Brad took the responsibility to babysit him for the time being....until he said he wanted to earn some tokens.

It's just foolish for a newbie, someone as weak-looking as Collen, to think he would live a peaceful life once he started earning tokens here. Many, hundreds of prisoners don't even bother looking for jobs, so they could avoid getting into trouble. And here...

Well, Brad could have only warned him and could have taken a hit or two. However, what followed was completely unexpected.

From a corner, he watched it; a woman, one of the very rare ones who lives alone in a cell and completely untouched, appeared before everyone.

Since the first day she arrived here, no one has dared touch her, and those who did have met their makers. She is strong and beautiful. Lethally beautiful.

Long black hair and violet eyes. A pair of big bazookas and a thin waist, that could entice even a saint to hold her even once before their death. Her looks could get her thousands of tokens daily if she allows herself to get touched. However, she stuck to her principles(?) and didn't allow herself to get tainted.

Well, until today.

"Can I have your attention?" Brad, just like many others, was already watching her, the woman who goes by the name Jasmine, as she stood before the crowd.

Her voice was soothing, almost like a choir playing some gentle music in sync, and those eyes that glanced at everyone made every prisoner in her presence feel that she was looking at them.

'What she is up to?'

Her voice, once again, echoed, "Today, I have decided to just let go of my stubbornness and allow myself to know the pleasure of being a woman."

Cheers erupted not a single second later. Brad was also surprised since this was too sudden. Although he has seen her only a couple of times, considering he came here just a few months ago, he has heard her tales.

The whipping lady with iron-clad determination, will be finally giving in?

'This can be a coincidence that she is making the announcement the same day when that boy arrived here...right?' Brad inwardly muttered, and maybe like she heard his inner voice, Jasmine suddenly called out,

"However, to become my first partner, you have to show how much you desire me," Those words were filled with innuendo, and even her simple gesture, like the tilt of her head, was quite sensual.

Everyone quieted down and listened to her following words.

"The one who will bring me Richard's head will get to spend a night with me~" Like her words were a cue, people began to grab those men whose names were Richard.

However, before someone could have gotten their head separated without any reason, Jasmine clarified,

"Uh-huh! Not those Richards, but the one working," Turning toward her behind she pointed at one of the chambers, which made Brad's eyes widen,

"...right there."

'Shit!' Brad cursed. Just as he thought this was no mere coincidence and that guy was no normal person.

First of all, his name is not Collen. And second, because he did something with Jasmine out there that's why she wants to take revenge on him.

And what could be worse than turning every guy, most of them at least, against him? Brad was sure this was the worst kind of revenge she could have taken.

Every person who held infatuation toward her, which easily exceeded three hundred, moved toward the working chamber which Colle-eh-Richard entered earlier.

There was something in the way she made the proposal that even attracted Brad to give in to his desires and group along with others to hunt down Richard.

However, he shook himself out of the daze and remained seated in a corner from where everything was visible.

'It's strange...' Brad narrowed his eyes; he couldn't believe that these people, who get fed up easily, were patiently standing in front of the chamber while pumping their muscles and preparing for an onslaught.

'This much force enthusiasm be created just by lust,' Brad looked at the girl once more. No doubt she is hot and charismatic, however, this was not...normal infatuation.

'Am I thinking too much?' Brad shook his head and continued to eat his food while praying that the brat receives a quick death by a gang leader here.

It took a few hours, and Brad was still in the common hall, to see how this unfolds. If Richard gets a one-sided beatdown, then Brad won't be helping. But if the kid holds out a little,

'Then...that would be a different case...'

*CLINK*

**BZZZ**

The buzzer rang through the hall and everyone suddenly quieted down.

From the forge, the red-eyed boy walked out while wiping his face—only turning rigid upon finding the whole crowd facing him.

Suddenly, the Zeta faction's head, Evans stepped forward and said, "You are Richard, right? I will ask you this once; lay down and let me pluck that little head of yours."

.....

Richard looked at the horde of humans looking at him with evidence of blood lust oozing from them.

Richard didn't know how, but they somehow found his real name and were seeking revenge(?) for something Richard had done to them. However, Richard has never met any of these prisoners before. And surely his mother also couldn't have gotten those many criminals stuffed here.

Then...what happened?

'Regardless, this is a great opportunity,'

[Ding!]

[Quest arrived!]

Ignoring the system notification, Richard summoned his staff just at the length that it remained hidden inside his palm.

They glared at him, fists clenched, ready to brawl. The only weapons in their reach were the heavy wooden benches, but they didn't seem to care. Richard's grip tightened around the small stick in his hand, its tip humming with purple electricity, faint arcs crackling in the air around it.

"AAHHHHHH!"

"GRAB HIM!"

"HAAAAA!!"

The first group of inmates charged with a roar, lifting one of the benches between them as a makeshift battering ram. Richard watched them close in, his eyes steady.

The moment they were within range, he raised the baton, and a bolt of purple lightning shot out. It struck the front of the bench, coursing through the wood and into the bodies of the men holding it. They screamed and collapsed, muscles seizing as the electricity jolted them to the ground.

More were coming.

Several criminals grabbed another bench, hurling it at Richard with all their might. He ducked just in time, feeling the bench whistle past his head before it crashed against the wall behind him. Before he could fully rise, another group rushed at him, fists flying. One managed to land a solid punch to his ribs, knocking the breath from his lungs.

"Agh!" However, Richard didn't only take it but punched the guy in the middle of his throat, knocking him down instantly.

Stabbing the shortened staff in his head, Richard dealt with another criminal.

'They are crazy...uncaring!' Richard could see the insanity in their eyes, almost like they didn't care about their lives. All they wanted was to see his blood.

As such, Richard also stopped caring about holding back.

**SWISH**

Elongating the staff, he jumped in the air. Swinging his staff over his head, he brought it down upon several of the criminals, crushing their bodies and ceasing their existence.

Richard landed in a crouch, the staff still crackling with deadly energy. The shockwave from his strike sent a ripple of fear through the crowd, but it didn't stop them. If anything, the madness in their eyes deepened. They were beyond reason—driven by a desperate thirst to see him bleed.

With a grim expression, Richard straightened and twisted his grip on the staff, releasing another surge of power. Electricity arced from the tip in jagged bolts, striking the criminals closest to him. Their bodies convulsed as the lethal current tore through them, leaving them crumpled on the ground, lifeless.

More were coming, and Richard was getting heated up. This was fun!

Richard rose, his muscles aching but his focus unshaken. There was no hesitation in his movements now—no restraint. He spun the staff above his head, releasing a concentrated bolt of lightning into the crowd. It exploded outward, sending bodies flying in every direction.

The air was thick with the smell of burnt flesh and ozone, and the once-echoing cries of rage were now replaced with screams of pain.

With each swing, he sent jolts of death through several of the prisoners who knew nothing but to charge at him with the intention to crush him to death. The charged bolts held the ability to travel through bodies, which explains why the crowd was getting trimmed at such a drastic pace.

In his frenzy, Richard forgot about his ether consumption limit, and slowly, he was accumulating fatigue, both from the work he did in the forgery and while fighting.

The staff was sucking his ether with each movement, and the enemies kept on charging at him. More than a hundred criminals have dropped dead and the rest are still coming.

'Fuck...' Richard found his vision turning a little blurry and his movements became a little sluggish. He saw his stats and he had less than twenty magic points left.

**DHAK**

A bald-headed man hit him on the chest, and Richard was thrown back toward the chamber.

Sprawled on the ground, Richard breathed heavily. This was the first time he was suffering from a magic deficiency.

He saw those remaining prisoners advancing towards him, and Richard was still lying on the ground.

'Get up...get up...' Gritting his teeth, he tried forcing himself up, when suddenly, a voice echoed in his ears; making Richard's eyes widened.

"Tired already, kiddo?"

Under Richard's astonished gaze, he found his magic recovering.

Through his clearer vision, Richard looked past the crowd, specifically at the brown-haired cellmate and found Brad winking at him.

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A/N:- Richard haven't engaged in any battle until now where he didn't have the support of his huge ether pool. Drop a comment.