Iris awkwardly smiled, watching their reactions.
Only the eyes of the Villain in black could be seen through the mask, but the build and movements were unmistakably Johannes.
She already knew he was a Villain, and having been with him just moments before, she couldn’t be fooled by the illusion function of the transformation outfit.
He slowly blinked, then lowered his head, acting just as he always did—she almost burst out laughing at the sight.
‘I guess that’s how Iris looks when she transforms. She’s so pretty.’
Unbeknownst to Iris, Johannes also recognized her right away.
Since he already knew she was a Hero, he could easily see through the slight changes in appearance brought on by the transformation outfit’s illusion function.
Transformed Iris was so beautiful that he forgot about the fight and simply stared at her in a daze.
Then, afraid to accidentally meet Iris’s gaze, he quickly lowered his head.
With his sunglasses gone after transforming, he was scared he might unintentionally read her thoughts.
‘Laika is… Huh. What’s with that expression? Did he recognize me?’
Iris stiffened as she glanced over at Laika.
With the undone <Beastification> after the battle stopped, Laika wore a mask covering his eyes, but his gaze was icy cold and his lips were tightly shut.
Was she being paranoid, thinking he looked as if he was suppressing rage?
Back when they met as Hero and Villain in Rugang Park, he hadn’t recognized her at all and kept trying to pull her to his side, whatever his true intentions were.
But now, his expression seemed to say he knew exactly who she was.
Laika, who had been unconsciously burning with anger, forced the corners of his mouth up into a smile.
Iris’s gaze seemed uneasy, so he did his best not to let her realize he had recognized her.
Now that he was paying attention, Angel Girl looked just like Iris.
He couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before—he felt downright foolish.
As he forced a smile and glanced over Iris, his eyes landed on the Ring of the Goddess on her finger, and a wave of emotion surged up inside him.
It felt like a fire was burning in his chest.
Gritting his teeth, he stared at the ground instead of at Iris.
‘What a shameless woman. To appear before me wearing the stolen ring. Did she really think I wouldn’t recognize her? That I’m such a fool I wouldn’t even recognize my own ring—unbelievable.’
Hot breaths escaped between his plump lips.
His body burned with betrayal and rage.
He tried his best to keep his emotions from showing, forcing a fake smile.
There was no longer any room for confusion; he had to accept the truth.
Iris was Angel Girl—the one who had deceived him with an innocent act and stolen the Relic.
She didn’t feel the slightest pang of conscience, brazenly appearing before him with the ring on her finger.
There was never any guilt in her to begin with.
‘Maybe she planned this from the start…’
Now that he thought about it, there were more than a few suspicious things.
When the Monster showed up at the Bakery Cafe, everyone else ran, but she lingered behind the building alone.
Angel Girl had appeared at Rugang Park right away, too.
At first, he’d thought Iris had fallen under the sway of his mind-related skill, but looking back, it seemed she might have just been acting.
He remembered her mentioning, back when they were doing a script reading, that she’d been in the drama club in high school.
He’d teased her for being a bad actor, but seeing her now, she was every bit as good as a professional.
‘Disgusting…’
Just as he was about to bare his teeth in anger, something flew toward Laika’s face.
He quickly turned his head to dodge, realizing that the man in the black mask had kicked at him.
A stinging sensation made him brush his cheek, and he found blood on his fingers.
He’d dodged a split second too late and gotten scratched on the face.
“Damn. Of all places to hit, it had to be my face.”
“You’ve got time to be distracted, I see.”
A low voice sounded in his ear, and another kick followed.
Laika moved quickly to dodge, biting down on his lip.
With the <Clone> skill gone, he’d have to attack directly, but after so long, moving his own body felt awkward.
He’d gotten too used to relying on <Clone>.
At this rate, the advantage would swing to the masked man.
In desperation, he pulled a Smoke Bomb from his pocket and threw it at the ground.
A thick cloud of smoke billowed out, obscuring everything.
Johannes quickly retreated, coughing violently in the acrid haze.
This wasn’t a normal smoke bomb—it contained special chemical agents.
“Ugh, how cowardly.”
“Calling a Villain a coward? That’s the highest praise you could give me.”
Laika’s mocking voice came from within the smoke.
Unlike Johannes, he was just fine.
He’d taken an antidote developed at the Laboratory in advance, so his own Smoke Bomb wouldn’t affect him.
He hadn’t thrown it to win the fight, but to escape.
Pink Street was a busy area—soon, the police would be swarming.
He needed to end this pointless fight and hurry to catch Iris.
He’d deliberately caused a commotion in the middle of a busy area with a Monster just to draw her out.
He’d thought he could find her location easily with enough money, but it was harder than expected to get information, so he’d had no choice but to use this old-fashioned method.
The easiest way to summon a Hero was to cause a disturbance in the city center.
It was a crude method, but judging by how quickly Iris appeared, it was certainly effective.
He started moving quickly through the smoke.
“Ack, cough, hack—”
Iris, who had been watching the fight, was coughing violently just like Johannes.
Bending over and coughing, tears streaming down her face, she staggered back.
She couldn’t move carelessly without being able to see ahead.
As she was surrounded by swirling smoke, a bad premonition suddenly struck.
The next moment, a strong hand grabbed her waist.
“Ah.”
“Finally caught you.”
“Wait, what are you—ugh!”
Startled, Iris tried to summon the <Light-Speed Spring> to break free from Laika.
Her body bounced high into the air, but Laika held on and leapt up with her.
She’d hoped the sudden movement would make him let go, but he wasn’t the type to be fooled by such a simple trick—it was no wonder he was a main Villain in so many comics.
“Do I look that stupid to you? As if I’d fall for something like that.”
“Let me go!”
“If I just let go when you ask, I wouldn’t be a Villain, now would I?”
Laika whispered in a low voice, holding Iris tight as he leaped even higher.
Clearing several streetlights in a single bound, he landed on top of a building.
With their bodies pressed so close, she couldn’t use any attack skills.
There was still the option to startle him with the <Sturdy Spider Web>, but given how unfazed he’d been by their sudden jump, he was unlikely to be surprised by that.
She’d tried that one before, after all.
Just then, Laika spun Iris roughly around.
His eyes were dark and sunken.
He gripped her waist tightly to keep her from escaping, and whispered in a low voice.
“I was trying to catch you, but that guy just had to butt in. This could’ve gotten a lot more tiresome.”
At that moment, Iris bit her lip at the sensation coming from below.
His swollen lower half was pressing against her sensitive spot.
“Please let go, I…”
His heated body kept rubbing up against her sensitive area, making her feel strange.
Was he doing it on purpose? Or was it just an involuntary reaction?
She hesitated, unable to bring herself to say Laika’s name.
If she called out to him, her identity would be revealed.
But her efforts were wasted as Laika spoke with an accusing tone.
“Laika. You already know who I am, don’t you? Just like I know who you are.”
“Ah! Th-That’s, what are you talking about…”
Iris’s eyes widened at his meaningful words.
If she tried to play dumb here, it would be all over.
She forced herself to keep up the act, but it only seemed to make Laika angrier.
He gave a hollow laugh, then pulled off his mask.
Since he already knew her identity, the illusion was gone—Laika’s real face appeared.
“Hmph…”
He pulled Iris’s lower back tightly toward him, their bodies pressed as one.
He lowered his head, bringing his lips close to Iris’s ear.
She could feel his hot, angry breath against her small ear.
“Your acting is impressive. To show up so brazenly wearing the stolen ring—do you have no shame at all, huh?”
Laika grabbed Iris’s hand—the one wearing the ring.
He brought her finger to his lips and slowly traced it with a chilling touch.
With his lips pressed to her hand, he muttered menacingly.
“Do you take me for a fool?”