Chapter 364:
"Hey. What's going on?"
Heikin, the German S-class villain, stroked his red Mohican hair and looked at the letter that had been sent to him.
[Invitation to Cathedral]
The paper was pure white with a holy glow.
Inside, it read.
"I have a very important announcement to make at this Cathedral, and I ask that you be present..."
He propped his legs up on the desk and muttered as he read the letter.
...Has this ever been in a Cathedral invitation before? No, it hasn't. Never before had there been such dire words as ‘this is the time to change destiny' or ‘the world order will be reorganized'...
It's been a week since this letter arrived.
He read it, wondering what the hell was going on, but...his brain wasn't very good, so he slammed his hand on his desk, unable to figure it out.
"I'm so frustrated!"
Just as he was ranting, the door burst open and a fat man walked in.
"Boss!!! What's going on?"
"Nothing, get out!"
"Okay!"
-BANG.
And just like that, his subordinate is out again.
Sighing, he sat up straight again and placed the letter on his desk, thinking.
Heikin, Germany's S-class villain and head of the Red Motors, Germany's only villain alliance.
As such, he was familiar with the heads of the other European Villain Alliances through the Cathedrals, but they didn't seem to know what Celeste was trying to tell them at this particular Cathedral.
"Do I need to ask Brother Egostic...No. I'll find out today anyway."
With that thought, he rose from his seat.
Egostic, an S-class villain in the country of Korea, was someone Heikin personally looked up to as an older brother.
He was always smiling, and despite his seemingly weak appearance, he was an incredible man who knew all the secrets of the world.
He knows the identity of America's hidden heroes, and he single-handedly prevented the Moonlight Church from destroying the world.
...Egostic was someone Heikin personally admired as a villain who even saved his life.
"Hah... I see. Let's go."
No matter what he says, I'll have to hear it first.
Checking the time, he rose from his seat, dragged on his pants, which clanked with chains, and grabbed his coat from the wall.
And there it was, a leather coat with horns on the shoulders. Behind him, a red cloak.
It was the costume he'd begun wearing when he stood tall in Germany, after destroying every other group of villains in the country.
"Alright... Let's go."
With that muttered, he tore the letter in half.
Schwak-.
With a twisting sensation, he found himself standing in a pitch-black, white hallway.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.
He walked down the corridor until he reached the Round Table Room.
In the solemn atmosphere of the table he noticed one thing, something different.
‘...What?’
Egostic was sitting right next to Celeste, instead of sitting with his usual companions.
From now on, I call upon all of Cathedral to unite together before the Crusade.
I hereby declare Cathedral, the Global Alliance of Villains.
The goal is to bring the world under our control."
A moment of silence descended and suddenly, the sound of applause was heard.
At the center of all the attention, a man in a white half-mask, Egostic, was clapping silently and then, starting with him, the round table began to fill with noise.
-Thump, thump, thump.
"That's right! Yes, you should be born a villain and rule the world."
"Hmm... That's a funny story, it should have happened a long time ago."
"Hahahaha! Great, I'm in. Celeste, shouldn't we have done this a long time ago?"
And just like that, in a room full of nods of approval, unknowingly clapping along with the others, Heikin suddenly realized.
‘...From the beginning, the speech was pointless.’
Celeste could have just said, ‘Hey, gather,' and the other villains would have followed suit.
Why? Because everyone would have been thinking the same thing.
‘...If the day comes when the powers of the powerful explode...’
‘...Celeste, how strong is she going to get?’
Right now, no villain could stand against her...At least, not without a few. Atlas, maybe but even then.
‘...I'm sure Egostic has them all in his pocket.’
In other words, it all pointed in one direction.
All the villains would be united under Celeste at this time, and they would all be in one place, a villain alliance on a scale never seen before.
Can the International Association stop this?
‘...I don't know what it is, but I'm going with it.’
Well, the details didn't matter.
No matter what, there was something about Celeste's speech that set his heart on fire.
On this day it was decided that the Global Alliance of Villains, Cathedral, would be officially launched.
***
After the announcement was made.
"Hah....Anyway, this is the important part, okay, Egostic?"
"Yes, Ms. Celeste."
I sat alone in her room, drinking coffee, wondering where the charismatic Celeste from earlier had gone, and what had happened to her.
...How does it feel to be Cathedral’s number two, anyway? It wasn't bad.
I was pretty much writing the book, anyway...Celeste's speech confirmed one thing.
Her goal, Cathedral’s goal, is world domination.
"Ha... She's doing what the gods want, right?"
Not world destruction, but world domination.
She just didn't know yet that the Sun God's goal was destruction, not conquest.
"...Of course."
I said, and took a sip of my coffee.
Now, the world-conquering Cathedral has officially been launched.
How do I turn this into a world defense headquarters?