My Dad Is a Popular Villain in a Comic Book - Chapter 11

After all, Albin’s mana was limited; he couldn’t constantly channel mana to keep two people warm. He continued channeling until his mana was depleted, which happened to be a good exercise for his control. During the time when his hands were free, he began reviewing the words and letters he had learned the day before.

He loved using what he had newly learned to communicate with Gold through writing. It felt just like learning a foreign language and immediately using it to talk to a foreigner; he could feel the utility of his new skill instantly, receiving timely feedback, which filled him with motivation and helped him apply what he had learned in practice. Gold also often wrote down words Albin didn’t recognize, and every time, Albin would ask Zeman, who acted as his teacher.

This time was no different. Albin used a quill to trace the words Gold had written, asking Zeman for the meaning. “Father, what does this word mean?”

Zeman glanced at the word on the parchment, and his gaze toward Gold grew even colder. “He says he is cold.”

Albin turned to look. Gold’s golden hair was dampened by the drifting rain, showing a sense of dejection, and his eyes stared at Albin listlessly, looking quite pitiful. His thin body was huddled behind the thermal blanket, like a big dog forgotten by its master on an open balcony, emitting soft whimpers while facing the wind and rain alone.

How pitiful.

Albin immediately channeled his recovered mana to him. Gold shuddered, turning into a big dog curled up in front of a warm fireplace. He even handed the blanket he was using to Albin, seemingly worried that the child might be cold.

Zeman watched coldly. Although it was still raining outside the carriage, the wind had died down significantly, and the wind direction had changed; the rain would no longer blow in. Yet, Gold was putting on an act of being terrified of the cold, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. If Zeman remembered correctly, Gold hadn’t shown any sign of being cold even when the rain was heavier earlier. This behavior was clearly intentional aimed at gaining Albin’s attention. Only a child like Albin would take it at face value.

Zeman’s expression turned unpleasant, and he pressed forward with his chilling, icy aura. Gold shivered uncontrollably for real but still didn’t back down.

Albin sensed that the atmosphere was off and turned his head to see Zeman’s face, which was as cold as frost. He snuggled over, hanging onto his father like a koala to block the incoming cold air. He said firmly, “I’ll warm Father up!”

His mana wasn’t enough to channel to two people, but he still had his body! The warm little child nestled in Zeman’s arms, like a piece of soft, thick winter clothing, continuously and steadily radiating heat. Looking down, he still saw a lively, smiling face; the air itself truly warmed up.

Who was more important to Albin? It was obvious at a glance. Zeman’s expression remained calm, unmoved. However, because his movements were forced to be restricted, he had no choice but to teach Albin by writing on his palm.

His cool fingertips didn’t dare to use force, brushing against the warm little palm like a feather. But the lighter he moved, the more Albin felt like his palm was being tickled. The sensation was just a little bit short of making him laugh out loud; he could only squirm like a caterpillar.

“Pay attention,” Teacher Zeman’s cold, clear voice sounded, as if blown in by the wind, carrying chilly raindrops, making Albin even more spirited. Albin didn’t have a particular order for learning literacy; he simply asked whatever he wanted to learn. One moment he was pointing at the cargo in the carriage, the next he was pointing at the dark clouds outside. He asked about everything, a whole bunch of things, until he himself didn’t know how much he had remembered, but Zeman answered patiently every time.

Just as he was feeling dizzy from learning, he suddenly remembered something. His lethargic face immediately brightened up, and his sparkling red eyes looked up at his father. “How do you write Father’s name?”

Zeman paused, then applied a bit of force to his fingertip and wrote it on Albin’s palm. This time, Albin didn’t squirm. He earnestly memorized every letter and whispered the spelling a few times. He nodded firmly. “I’ve memorized it!” Extending his finger, he focused and wrote two words on Zeman’s palm: —Zeman, Father.

Zeman stared intently at his empty palm, as focused as he was when reading scriptures many years ago. Suddenly, Albin curled his fingers and began to sneakily scratch Zeman’s palm, peeking at his expression. Zeman clearly wasn’t afraid of such tickling; his expression remained indifferent, and his eyelashes didn’t even tremble.

A defeated Albin puffed out his cheeks, completely unconvinced. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Father smile.” Father is so good-looking; he must look great when he smiles! There always seemed to be a lot of heavy things in Father’s eyes that he couldn’t understand, just like the continuous rainy days outside, but there was never any hint of a smile. Damn it, I must find a way to make Father smile next time. He wore an expression of being determined to make another attempt, thinking with full fighting spirit.

The merchant caravan traveled for most of the day. Due to the overcast clouds, the sky remained gloomy, and by dusk, it became pitch black, with the wind and rain becoming more rapid. Fortunately, they arrived at the post station before it became completely dark. The caravan people went to deal with the carriages, and Albin, exhausted from the journey, hastily ate some food from the post station and went to sleep early.

Once the caravan people were also wined and dined, the post station gradually fell silent. In the middle of the night, Zeman opened his eyes abruptly. He felt magic energy that was close at hand. He wrapped Albin tightly in the quilt and directed his sharp killing intent toward the bed next to him. In the darkness, a figure no, a demonic creature similar in shape to Gold stood by the bed. Sensing Zeman’s killing intent, the figure quickly fled out through the window.

Zeman followed closely behind. It was still raining heavily outside. The two stood still in the nearby woods, and by the moonlight, Zeman saw the true face of the person. Bright golden hair, a dense beard already shaved away, revealing a gaunt, mean-spirited face with shrewd light in his eyes. It was indeed Gold.

A demonic creature actually approached Albin right under my nose! Magic energy erupted from Zeman, so thick that it materialized into purple-black spikes, stabbing toward that person.

“Wait!” Gold called out in a hurry, yet appearing even more surprised than Zeman. “Are you Zeman of the Sun God Temple?!” How could it be him?

Zeman narrowed his eyes dangerously. A mute had spoken. A blind man had seen. A human had turned into a demonic creature.

“You are actually a demonic creature…” Gold muttered in astonishment.

Black spikes like a torrential rain poured down. Under such intensive attacks, Gold should have had nowhere to hide, but the next instant, he appeared outside the range of the black spikes’ attack.

Zeman wasn’t too surprised. Demonic creatures transformed from humans also had abilities similar to humans. If humans had magic power and magic spells, then demonic creatures had magic energy and skills. Each demonic creature had exclusive skills and couldn’t learn other skills, which was different from human magic. He had killed many high-level demonic creatures and had been prepared for this long ago.

“Time freeze? Spatial teleportation?” Zeman coldly named Gold’s skills. “No, it’s a speed-type.” His magic energy swallowed the ground in an instant; the churning magic energy turned the ground into a turbulent sea, and no matter what speed Gold had, he couldn’t escape this sea.

Seeing his ability being seen through at a glance, Gold’s fear reached its apex, and he broke into a cold sweat. He was about only one sentence away from death. He had to say something that this strongest weapon, who had killed countless demonic creatures, would care about and would lay down his weapon for.

“I have something to say about Albin’s safety!”

The sharp thorns growing from the magic energy stopped abruptly in front of his forehead. Zeman didn’t withdraw his offensive, just asked coldly: “What do you want to say?”

“I didn’t deliberately transform into a vagrant to approach that child; it’s the backlash of the curse.” He cautiously observed Zeman’s expression. “If you are also a demonic creature, you should know what the curse I’m talking about is.”

Zeman allowed him to continue. Gold spoke of his experience. He originally didn’t have a human form; it was only after he found a way to suppress the gods’ curse that he could take on a human form and walk in the human world like a human.

Zeman pressed: “What method?”

“Ordinary high-level demonic creatures want to transform, they can only rely on powerful force to suppress the curse.” He swept his eyes over Zeman, believing that Zeman’s current state was the result of suppressing the curse to gain a human form. “But I didn’t have such powerful force; I found a shortcut let other demonic creatures or humans provide me with energy.” He opened his arms and proudly said: “After that, I bribed several priests with money to channel magic energy for me.”

So what if I am a demonic creature? As long as there is money, humans will still scramble to please me, and priests are nothing but a group of guys who only care about money. After possessing a human form, he accumulated massive wealth in the human world; he could make priests treat him like a god, could mass-produce other humanoid demonic creatures, and possessed huge power in both the human world and the demonic creature world. He was proud of this, believing that he was different from other stupid demonic creatures who only had beast forms.

However, three months ago, while he was complacent, he suffered the backlash of the curse.

“Backlash?” This was the first time Zeman heard about backlash; it seemed this was news that only circulated among high-level demonic creatures.

“That’s right, this is the retribution from those small-minded gods to all high-level demonic creatures; demonic creatures don’t become human just by taking on a human form.” The backlash of each high-level demonic creature was different, but it often appeared in the form they least wanted to present. Like him, he used money to buy human magic energy, and the backlash made him lose his eyes that could observe the situation, his ears that could collect news, and his glib mouth. It made his magic energy sealed, his limbs weak, losing his wealth, becoming a blind, deaf, and mute human vagrant. It made him, a dignified high-level demonic creature, fall to the point of being bullied by humans, perhaps even dying miserably on the street.

“If I want to break through the backlash seal, I must have someone channel magic energy to me again.” As long as he could survive, he could abandon his dignity, and he had done so more than once. But in his human vagrant appearance, demonic creatures wouldn’t regard him as a companion, nor could they communicate with him. His money and valuables had been robbed, and without money to pave the way, cunning humans or priests wouldn’t even spare him a glance. Who would channel magic energy for him?

“Only Albin extended a helping hand to me.” No matter what purpose that child harbored, when that warm magic energy was channeled into his body, he had regarded that child as a benefactor, the only light in his darkness. He read out this name that had echoed in his heart countless times and looked at Zeman with sharp eyes.

“Not all demonic creatures’ backlash is as harmless as mine. If you are also a demonic creature, you will one day suffer backlash like me. The more you suppress the curse and manifest the human form, the more powerful the backlash will be, appearing in a form you do not want.”

How could those gods leave behind a curse that could be suppressed by them? It was a trap from the very beginning to toy with them.

“At that time, Albin, who remains by your side, will also be in danger.”