Villain Simulator, Ch 81

"I thought... you were dead."

For the first time, Lucas saw fear on Eula's face.

"How could I be?" Lucas gave a mischievous grin. "Good men die young, but villains... we last a thousand years."

"How..." 

Seamus stared in disbelief at Lucas, who had suddenly appeared before him. "I... I already offered you to the Dragon Lord."

"Next time, be sure to chop me into pieces before feeding me," Lucas said, stepping in front of Eula, still smiling. "My life is much harder to take than you think, dear father-in-law."

"Citizens of Mondstadt!"

Seamus raised his voice, addressing the crowd. "You see? The Lawrence family has not only deceived us, but they've also allied with Snezhnaya! We cannot lose! Attack! Att—"

However, the scene that followed made Seamus's voice trail off.

His so-called elite troops, empowered by the dragon scales, were all kneeling in a row, captured by the soldiers of Snezhnaya, waiting for their fate.

"These guys were indeed stronger than regular people," Tonia said casually, standing at ease, "but against a proper military force? They were just a joke. It didn't take us even an hour to wrap this up."

"How... how could it be?" Seamus's voice became hysterical. "Five hundred dragon-scale-enhanced soldiers... defeated in an hour? Even catching five hundred pigs would take longer than that!"

Though a bit reluctant to admit it, Lucas knew that in terms of military power, Mondstadt was indeed weaker compared to Snezhnaya. 

Of course, this was partly due to the fact that, in this simulation, Mondstadt lacked the force of the Knights of Favonius. In the real world, Snezhnaya wouldn't find it easy to conquer Mondstadt.

Otherwise, the Fatui wouldn't need to trade Mondstadt's city defense plans with Schubert.

Those five hundred "dragon-scale soldiers" had taken Seamus twenty years to cultivate, exchanging countless offerings of food to get them from the dragon Ursa.

These enhanced followers were the core of Seamus's confidence in overthrowing the Lawrence family's rule.

But what Seamus hadn't anticipated was that Lucas could call in military support from Snezhnaya.

After all, the Lawrence family didn't have a good relationship with the Fatui. The Fatui had repeatedly requested to station troops in Mondstadt, but the Lawrences had always refused.

"How could this happen..."

Seamus, realizing he was cornered, took a few steps back, muttering, "This can't be... I spent twenty years meticulously planning this..."

"My love, now is not the time to give up!" Seamus began mimicking his wife's voice again, speaking in a sharp tone. "We still have the Dragon Lord!"

"Yes!" Seamus's eyes lit up with renewed hope. "The Dragon Lord will help me. As long as I have the dragon, I will rise again..."

"The Dragon Lord you speak of..." Lucas pointed to the sky. "Is it that one?"

A massive shadow appeared on the ground. Countless Mondstadt citizens looked up, only to see a gigantic black dragon circling in the sky.

"The... the Dragon Lord!"

Seamus, seeing the dragon as his savior, shouted, "I'm here! Your loyal follower needs your help!"

The black dragon, as if hearing Seamus's call, slowly descended, landing in front of him.

The people of Mondstadt were frozen in terror.

Although many had heard of the infamous "Evil Dragon Ursa," it had always been considered a legend from a thousand years ago.

In Millennium Lie, it was explicitly stated that Dragon Ursa had been killed by Vennessa and the Gunnhildr family.

So, no one immediately connected this black dragon with the ancient evil.

In fact, some of Seamus's followers still believed the dragon was his guardian.

"Of course, I will help you," the black dragon, Ursa, said in a deep, resonant voice. "After all, we're partners, aren't we?"

"Did you hear that?" Seamus triumphantly declared. "The Dragon Lord is on our side! Justice will never die! The truth will never be defeated!"

"But... I'm not a 'Dragon Lord'..." Ursa suddenly roared toward the sky, "I am the demon dragon Ursa, and I'm here... to destroy you all!"

With that, Ursa unleashed a stream of purple-black flames, lighting up the sky over Mondstadt in a fiery display.

Everyone's faces showed utter disbelief.

Except for Lucas, who was desperately trying to keep a straight face to avoid bursting out laughing.

The over-the-top acting, coupled with the stilted lines...

If Ursa didn't look so fearsome, the whole act would've been exposed immediately.

Yes, the reason Lucas had arrived late was because he had gone to retrieve his previous life's body, bring out the "Gnosis" that Barbatos had given him. With it, he had broken Ursa's seal.

"I see!" 

Lucas put on a look of sudden realization, pointing at Seamus. "So all along, the ones colluding with the demon dragon Ursa were... the Gunnhildr family!"

"No... no, I didn't! I'm not!" Seamus stammered, completely taken aback by this sudden accusation. He stared at Ursa in confusion. "Dragon Lord... why didn't you ever tell me... that you were the demon dragon Ursa?"

"Well, you never asked," Ursa replied loudly. "Where is the Lawrence family? A thousand years ago, I was defeated by your ancestors, but today, I will burn you all to ashes with the flames of my vengeance!"

It finally dawned on the crowd.

"The Lawrence family didn't lie to us after all!"

"They're the true descendants of the heroes who defeated the demon dragon!"

"The Gunnhildr family are the real traitors, the ones who sided with the dragon!"

"Millennium Lie... that's the biggest lie!"

The once-loyal followers of Seamus began tearing their copies of Millennium Lie into shreds.

"Hmph... hahahaha!"

To everyone's surprise, Seamus didn't get angry—instead, he started laughing. "It doesn't matter... Dragon Lord or demon dragon, as long as it stands by my side... I am invincible!"

At this point, Seamus had reached the end of the line.

The realization that the revered "Dragon Lord" he had worshipped for years was, in fact, the demon dragon Ursa had dealt a severe blow to his mental state. Now, everyone believed that the Gunnhildr family was the one colluding with Ursa, and Seamus's grand plans had all collapsed.

Since ruling through "faith" was no longer an option, Seamus had only one path left—force.

After marrying into the Gunnhildr family, Seamus had been managing family affairs with his wife. Restoring the family's former glory had been her lifelong obsession. Even on her deathbed, she had yearned for the Gunnhildr family to regain its past brilliance. 

Seamus, deeply in love with his wife, suffered a severe mental breakdown after her death, leading to his split personality, one that embodied his wife. 

But that wasn't the only cause of his mental deterioration. The prolonged use of dragon scales from Ursa, embedded within his body, had also severely damaged both his mind and spirit. Seamus truly believed that if he restored the Gunnhildr family's glory, his wife would somehow rise from the dead.

"Dragon Lord!" 

Seamus's body trembled as he pointed at his enemies and the terrified crowd, shouting, "Use your dragon breath to purify the souls of these rebels!"

Seeing Seamus's intense reaction, Lucas was reassured. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Lucas subtly signaled Ursa, who quickly understood. Her mouth began to glow as she gathered purple-black flames. "Mondstadt! Lawrence! Taste the flames of my vengeance!" 

A fierce-looking stream of dragon breath shot from Ursa's mouth. 

Of course, despite its terrifying appearance, the dragon breath was harmless—Ursa had only burped, creating no real damage.

Lucas stepped forward dramatically, declaring, "As a descendant of the Lawrence family, I will never allow you to destroy this city!"

With a wave of his hand, an ice wall erupted from the ground, instantly blocking the "demonic dragon breath."

"How… how is this possible?"

Seeing Ursa's attack, which he had relied on for twenty years, easily blocked by Lucas, Seamus's face was filled with disbelief. "The Dragon Lord's attack was stopped…"

Seamus wasn't the only one fooled by this performance. The onlookers, unaware of the truth, were just as convinced. In their eyes, one of the Lawrence family members had just withstood an attack from the very dragon that nearly destroyed Mondstadt a thousand years ago.

"Go… go get 'em!"

"Don't let that dragon win!"

"Evil will never triumph!"

Lucas wasn't sure whether to commend the people of Mondstadt for finally coming to their senses or laugh at how quickly they switched sides. 

Lucas wasn't concerned about their opinions, though. The reason he and Ursa were staging this performance was twofold: to solidify the Lawrence family's rule and, more personally, to completely crush Seamus's spirit. 

The dragon Seamus had worshiped for decades was nothing before Lucas—nothing would break Seamus more than that.

"Dragon Ursa!"

Lucas summoned an ice spear in his hand, pointing it at Ursa. "I will carry on the spirit of Lawrence and defeat you!"

With those words, Lucas charged toward Ursa, spear in hand.

Of course, even in his current state, Lucas knew he wouldn't stand a chance against Ursa's full power. 

But this battle was purely for show.

"Raaawrr!" Ursa let out an exaggerated roar, matching Lucas's attacks with her own. The two seemed evenly matched as they exchanged blows.

Despite the staged nature of the fight, they couldn't make it too obvious. If Lucas defeated Ursa in a single move, it would raise suspicion.

The onlookers were dumbfounded by the "epic" battle. First, there was the terror of seeing the infamous dragon Ursa, and second, the shock that a human could fight a dragon to a standstill.

Seamus, though powerful due to the dragon scales, lacked real combat experience. He couldn't see through the charade, and actually believed Lucas had been hiding his true strength all along.

Had Lucas let himself be defeated earlier on purpose, just to investigate the truth?

But while Seamus remained oblivious, others weren't so easily fooled.

On the balcony of the Goth Grand Hotel, Tartaglia (Childe) lowered his binoculars with a grin. "So, even the demon dragon is your ally? It seems my plans to infiltrate Mondstadt will have to be put on hold."

Behind him, a folder labeled "City Defense Plans" lay open on a table.

Much to Tartaglia's surprise, the folder really did contain Mondstadt's city defense plans, but they were practically useless. 

After all, Mondstadt's "defenses" were laughable at best. For an army like Snezhnaya's, those defenses posed no threat.

But now, it seemed there were far greater dangers within Mondstadt than its flimsy fortifications.

With a sharp clash, Lucas's ice spear collided with Ursa's claws, sending shards of ice scattering in all directions.

"Haven't we finished yet?" Ursa muttered in a low voice. "I'm starting to get hungry."

Back in Barbatos's temple, Ursa's metabolism had slowed to a crawl, and Seamus's offerings had kept her fed. But now, her ravenous appetite had returned full force after the seal was lifted.

"Hold on a bit longer," Lucas replied, exasperated. "I'll treat you to a whole roasted bull after this."

"Make it a hundred bulls!"

Ursa's enthusiasm surged at the thought.

"Alright, alright." Lucas sighed as a few beads of sweat formed on his forehead. 

It seemed that after all these years, Ursa had learned how to be a bit more demanding.

He'd have to "educate" this troublesome dragon properly later on.

Lucas suddenly leaped back several steps, gripping his ice spear tightly. A layer of snow and frost began to swirl around him as he gathered energy for a final attack.

After a brief moment of charging up, Lucas hurled the spear toward Ursa's chest with all his might.

"Dragon Spear Strike!"

The name was something Lucas made up on the spot, but thanks to the elemental effects he conjured, it actually looked quite impressive.

This final attack would mark the end of their grand performance.