The towering buildings around me were engulfed in immolating flames, but I assure you, it wasn't at all my fault.

I implore you to believe in my innocence!

Before me stood a young woman, likely in her late teens, with glossy raven-black hair cascading down her back and piercing amethyst eyes.

She wore a mask that covered half of her face, but I knew all too well what kind of expressions she'd be making right now.

"Ahhh!" She cried out, her strength finally waning after hours of battling me, collapsing to her knees.

Her sword slipped through her fingers and fell beside her on the asphalt.

Finally!

She had lost today, and the consequences of her defeat would fall upon those she loves.

I won't grant her a swift death.

No, that'll be too kind, and I have no room for mercy. Instead, I will torment those she holds dear and make her listen to their agonizing screams.

I will break her, both mentally and physically, relishing every moment of her endless suffering.

Only when I am satisfied will I grant her the mercy of succumbing to death.

"Ha, it's over!" I exclaimed, towering over the heroine as she lay sprawled on the ground. "Now, all I have to do is press this button, and I'll know the location of the person you love the most!"

In my hand, I held a small holographic map projector attached to an advanced CRN hacking device.

With one press of the button, this device will scan her communicator and tell me the location of every single person this young heroine cares about by reading her text pattern, contacts, personal notes, and online footprints.

"N-No, don't!" She cried out in desperation. Her mask covered only her upper face, so I could see her cheeks flush red with fear.

She should have cowered like this from the start. Maybe, just maybe, I would have spared her such a cruel fate then!

Haha! Muahaha–

"...Huh?"

But when I pressed the button, a holographic map appeared in front of me with only one live location pinged on it – my own.

What?!

Did I make a mistake?!

Oh god, this is so embarrassing! And after I made such a lengthy evil monologue, too!

She will tease me about this every time we fight now! Ah, fuck! Just let me die already!

"I-I-It's not like th-that I uh— I don't—" Her stuttering voice shook me back to reality.

I looked at her and noticed again how beet-red her cheeks were.

"Wait..." An impossible thought crossed my mind.

No!

Oh, hell no!

No fucking way!

As an unwanted realization crept through my mind, I jumped a few meters back in disgust.

"Y-You're so full of passion, even when it comes to your mischievous schemes. I feel so alone, like no one truly understands me. My family sees me as a disappointment, my friends don't know the real me, and boys my age are too intimidated to approach me. Without you, my loneliness would be unbearable...."

What the hell?! Is she seriously confessing to me right now?! Me?! The one person who has been trying to kill her for the last six months?!

"S-Say something!" She fiddled with her fingers and fixed her enchanting gaze at me.

"I– uh... What should I say again?"

I am not just any ordinary human. I am the epitome of evil, a mastermind with a cunning brain and a thirst for power.

My hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of innocent souls, yet I have eluded justice, escaping the relentless pursuit of those so-called government hounds.

How did I do that? With my unparalleled intellect, that's how!

I am the puppet master, pulling the strings of fate itself.

I calculate every move, every outcome, and every possibility before taking even a single step.

I, a mere mortal they call me, devoid of any superpowers, can foretell the future with an unrivaled accuracy that knows no bounds.

I can do that not by magic, but through sheer intellect!

It wouldn't be narcissistic of me to say that I am the smartest person alive!

But in no calculation of mine did I predict THIS particular outcome! What the hell?!

"Um, say, will you go out with me?" Using her katana as support, the black-haired heroine stood up and asked.

She took off her mask, revealing her full face.

I already knew who she was. The world did, so her face reveal did not come off as a surprise to me.

But still, her taking off her mask in front of me felt special in a way.

Huh? And here I thought I had lost all my emotions.

"Tell me, will you go out with me?"

"What if I refuse?"

It wasn't like she could do anything to me. She had already lost. She was barely standing–

"Ahh, fuck!"

Before I could even finish my thought, she raised her katana, and immediately a red hue enveloped its blade.

"If you refuse, then I'll kill you right here, right now. After all, if you can't be mine, I won't let anyone else have you either!"

She lowered her stance, readying herself to attack.

"Tsk!" I clicked my tongue in frustration. I thought she had no energy left! "What a crazy bitch."

I gave her too much time to recover! Her love confession threw me off. Maybe that was another one of her tactics?

But it's fine. I'll correct my mistakes now.

I donned a specially crafted nanotech combat armor, enabling me to manifest a multitude of weapons and harness the full power of my Dragon Heart reactor.

With determination, I aimed my right palm at the young heroine.

At my mental command, the nanobots around my arm transformed into a compact particle cannon.

"Last warning," I said. "Even you will end up with more than a few broken bones if you go against my particle beam regardless of your A-rank Blessing!"

"Just say you'll go out with me then," she replied, cocking her head.

"Fuck off." As I focused my aim, clusters of white energy coalesced in front of the barrel of my hand cannon.

In an instant, a beam of light erupted, advancing toward its target.

The beam's intense pressure vaporized the concrete road beneath it, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.

Despite my attack, the heroine showed no fear or hesitation on her face at all.

With a swift motion, she surrounded her katana with an even brilliant red aura until it shone like a crimson star before executing a precise horizontal slash.

Twooosh—!

Crack—!

My beam of light disintegrated into shimmering energy particles, and wide cracks appeared on my nanotech armor.

Her sword slash reached me from so far away! What kind of skill or spell did she use?!

I smirked behind the visor of my helmet, more than a little excited. "You neutralized my particle beam with a sword art? Most impressive."

But that was all she could manage before she crumpled to the ground, likely passing out from exhaustion.

Upon witnessing her condition, I couldn't help but facepalm in disbelief, "...This idiot."

After a few seconds of thinking what to do, I decided to simply leave her there.

The nanobots on my back morphed into two metal wing-like blades, resembling a jet pack, before I took off into the sky.

The reason I attacked this Zone had already been achieved anyway.