Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain-Chapter 42: Villain Score Spike

Maximilian looked back at the entrance, now covered by a red forcefield generated from the alien device embedded within the walls and ceiling, enclosing the room like a cage.

"What? Shadow Thief, trying to find a way out? You—"

Bang!

Maximilian pulled out a handgun and shot the speaker on the ceiling, destroying it. He’d had enough of that annoying voice.

— ??? —

In a dimly lit security room, Luther watched the monitor with irritation. He hated it when someone defied him—hated it even more when they managed to win, even slightly. Any loss made him feel like he was losing control.

"Sir, the speaker has been destroyed," one of the staff reported.

"I know!" Luther snapped, venting his frustration.

The staff member could only nod and apologize before returning to his duties.

On the screen, the ’Shadow Thief’ examined the forcefield closely before reaching his hand toward it.

"Hahaha! Is this guy out of his mind!? Doesn’t he know that alien-tech forcefields instantly disintegrate anything that touches them!? What a fool—HAH H... a-aa—"

Luther’s laughter stopped midway as the monitor displayed the impossible.

On the screen, the ’Shadow Thief’ had inserted his hand into the forcefield, which began to flicker like an old light bulb.

"Sir! The energy reading from the alien tech forcefield generator is dwindling! At this rate, the generator will—" the security staff quickly reported as he monitored the console.

"Feed it electricity from the building!" Luther commanded.

"Sir! Even with the emergency power storage, the building won’t have enough to power it. We’d need at least an entire city’s worth of electricity!" the staff explained.

"Then do it!" Luther ordered, his eyes narrowing sharply at the man beside him. He didn’t want to hear any excuses.

The staff had initially wanted to argue that redirecting electricity from the city grid would definitely draw attention and might lead the authorities to discover the alien tech. But... seeing Luther’s glare, he could only swallow his protest and comply.

He began redirecting power from the entire building, then connected to the city’s power grid. The moment the connection was made, lights in the surrounding buildings began flickering—like the grid was struggling to keep up with demand.

"Let’s see if you can get out this time, Shadow Thief!" Luther growled, teeth clenched, his eyes clouded with hatred.

On Maximilian’s side, he continued draining the energy from the forcefield without stopping. The forcefield flickered, alive one moment, dimming the next, as if it were teetering on the edge of collapse. This went on for more than ten minutes.

[Oooohhh! It seems Christmas came early for me! \(≧▽≦)/ ] Atherna said excitedly as energy surged into the system.

The UI display for energy blocks and accumulation lit up. The energy block bar filled completely—it could now level up! However, the level-up process remained on hold since Maximilian wasn’t yet in a safe zone.

Energy Needed Till Next Level: 10/10

...

Energy Needed Till Next Level: 11/10

...

Energy Needed Till Next Level: 13/10

...

Energy Needed Till Next Level: 13/10

Accumulated Energy: 11

...

When the energy accumulation reached 11, the forcefield finally shut down permanently.

But along with it, the entire city center’s power grid was drained to its last drop. Only the outskirts remained unaffected since they were connected to a different grid than the one powering the city center.

Looking out the window and seeing the city center plunged into darkness, Maximilian knew it was high time to get out. He immediately pressed a button on his wrist console.

BOOM!

The bomb he had planted on the rooftop water tank exploded, unleashing tons of water onto the rooftop. The guards patrolling there were swept away by the torrent, some screaming as they fell off the edge of the building.

Their cries for help went unheard, lost in the thick darkness of the blackout.

Maximilian burst through the bedroom window, glass shattering around him. But just as he reached the rooftop’s edge, ready to jump, a streak of photon energy shot across the sky toward Luther’s penthouse.

It was Photon Fury.

The moment she spotted Maximilian in his dark armor, she immediately registered him as a villain.

"Stop, you villain!" she shouted, raising her hand as photon energy began to gather in her palm.

Maximilian snorted. Only an idiot would stop when a cop shouted—unless they were cornered. And he wasn’t.

He sprinted toward the ledge, ignoring her command. That act of defiance only fueled Photon Fury’s anger. She unleashed a photon beam, but Maximilian had already vanished into the darkness.

"You...!" Photon Fury cursed, immediately activating one of her abilities, the power to detect bioelectric signatures in living beings.

She spotted a light node of bioelectric energy speeding away, flying. Judging by its size, shape, and direction, that had to be the villain.

She gave chase but held back her photon powers. They were still in the city center, and she couldn’t fire recklessly. Even though she was prideful, arrogant, and something of an extremist in her ideals, Photon Fury wasn’t stupid.

With her current level of control, firing blindly in a populated area risked harming civilians or causing property damage. If she injured innocents or caused too much collateral damage, she could kiss her hero license goodbye.

The chase continued through the high-rise buildings cloaked in darkness. She hoped the lights would come back soon. They entered a zone filled with luxury condos, and the glowing node in her bioelectric vision flared so intensely it became impossible to distinguish anything—there were too many people.

The villain was using the civilians as camouflage.

Frustrated, she switched back to natural vision.

But all she saw was darkness.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed, and Photon Fury instantly raised her photon shield. The bullet struck the shield, and the impact made it wobble violently as if hit by a tank shell.

"This... this is impossible," Photon Fury whispered in disbelief.

Her photon shield could easily tank an anti-material rifle shot. The only thing that could make it flicker like that was a direct hit from a UEC-standard heavy tank, designed to battle large mutated beasts.

Bang! Bang!

Two more shots rang out. Her already unstable shield flickered one last time... then vanished.

One of the bullets pierced her arm. Fortunately, much of its kinetic energy had already been spent, and it failed to penetrate her power-enhanced skin.

But with her photon shield gone, Photon Fury plummeted toward the ground.

She tried to summon her powers, but nothing happened. The ground loomed closer and closer—and just ten meters before impact, her powers surged back.

Photon Fury gasped in relief.

It was the closest she’d ever come to death in her career as a hero. She didn’t know who that villain was, but one thing was sure:

She would find him... and return this humiliation tenfold!

— Morning – Maximilian’s Home —

The sudden blackout of the entire city center had become the major headline on all the morning news channels. Every channel was reporting the incident, including the high-speed chase in the darkness between Photon Fury and an unknown villain the night before.

"I heard a big explosion from the top of the building where Mr. Rook was staying, then I saw Ms. Photon Fury chasing a villain. That villain seemed really skilled... God, I hope he gets arrested soon," one city resident said during an interview.

The screen then shifted to a live press conference. Luther Rook stood confidently at the podium, speaking with strong, determined energy.

"People of Arkadia! As a candidate in the city governor election—and as a direct victim of this incident—I, Luther Rook, promise you that I will use all available resources and enforcers to hunt down this villain! Please, good people of Arkadia, entrust me with this task! I won’t let you down!" Luther declared, clenching his fist dramatically in front of the television cameras.

"Sir! Mr. Rook—since you were the victim—do you know the name and identity of this villain?" one of the reporters asked.

"Yes! I know him well. He is Sean Brown, former CEO of Brown Tech and the infamous Shadow Thief. He came to visit me seeking revenge—for stopping his madness in the past and to—"

The passionate speech was abruptly cut off as Maximilian, clearly irritated by Luther’s voice, turned off the TV in the living room.

[Ahhhh? Why’d you turn it off?! I wanted to see how this guy was gonna twist the facts! (;´Д｀)]

Atherna protested as the TV shut off mid-speech.

"Please, don’t watch stuff like this. It’s going to melt your brain cells. Watch too much and their idiocy might actually infect you," Maximilian sighed, but then his face broke into a wide smile.

He couldn’t help it—his Villain Score within the system had skyrocketed overnight! At this rate, he could afford something really nice.

Villain Score: 87,345

"Ohhh Luther... as annoying as you are, and despite having a very punchable face, you’re a nice guy," Maximilian said with a chuckle. "You’re the one who made my Villain Score shoot up like a rocket."