Chapter 247: Damian Learns the Real Risk
A moment later, Damian’s expression suddenly changed again. "Wait a damn minute."
He slowly sat upright, and the relief on his face disappeared almost instantly.
"If my harem members are already free because the sources of their bad fates were eliminated... then what about the others?"
His eyes sharpened slightly. "Vulkara, Violetta, Cassandra... and maybe even Master."
The room became quiet.
Damian’s fingers tapped against his knee as his thoughts moved faster. "Their villainess destinies are still active. Their fates are still changing."
A bad feeling gradually rose in his heart. "If their fate can keep changing, then doesn’t that mean it can also change in a worse direction?"
His expression darkened further. "They’re villainesses. If a higher multiplier means their circumstances become even worse... then their endings could become even more tragic."
Damian’s mouth twitched. "Damn it."
He finally understood the dangerous side of what the system had just explained. A rising multiplier was obviously good for his rewards.
However, if that increase came from a darker, more dangerous, and more tragic destiny, then a higher multiplier was not necessarily something worth celebrating.
Sometimes, it could be a fucking warning.
Damian’s fingers slowly clenched into a fist. "If that’s the case, then I should complete their fates directly."
His gaze hardened. "I need to cut off the sources of their bad endings as soon as possible, just like what happened with Linsey and the others. Otherwise, if I keep waiting..."
Before Damian could finish speaking, the system interface suddenly flickered.
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[Host.]
---
Damian immediately stopped.
The system remained silent for a breath before another series of notifications appeared.
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[There is something Host should know.]
[Originally, this information was not intended to be explained at this stage.]
[However, to prevent Host from making reckless decisions, it is necessary to clarify it now.]
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Damian frowned. "Reckless decisions?"
The system screen flashed again.
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[Answer: Eliminating the source of a target’s bad ending too early is not necessarily safe.]
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Damian’s expression froze. "Huh?"
For several seconds, he simply stared at the sentence floating in front of him.
His brows gradually pulled together. "What the hell do you mean by that?"
Damian leaned closer toward the interface, genuine confusion replacing his earlier confidence. "Shouldn’t eliminating the source of their bad ending make them safer?"
His voice became more serious. "You literally just told me Linsey and the others are stable because the causes of their tragedies are already gone."
Damian pointed at the system screen. "So why the hell are you suddenly telling me that doing the same thing for Vulkara and the others could be dangerous?"
His eyes narrowed further. "Are you saying they’re somehow safer while their dangerous fates are still active?"
The system screen flickered faintly.
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[Indeed. As long as a target’s villainess fate remains active, Host may continue observing fragments of her possible future through Destiny Stories.]
[To understand what the System means, Host should first remember that this System is called [Villainess Breaker].]
[Every woman possessing a Multiplier is a destined villainess, whether she desires that fate or not.]
---
Damian frowned at the explanation. "Yeah, I already know that. So what the hell is the problem?"
The system immediately continued.
The system immediately continued.
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[Linsey, Helena, Cynthia, and Evelyn have already eliminated the original sources of their bad fates.]
[However, they still possess Multipliers.]
---
The moment those words appeared, Damian froze.
His brows pulled together as he suddenly realized the contradiction. "Wait..."
For several seconds, his head almost hurt from how quickly his thoughts were moving. "They already ended their original villainess fates, but their multipliers are still there."
Damian stared intensely at the screen. "Based on what you’ve told me, shouldn’t the multiplier disappear if their villainess destiny completely ended?"
A realization gradually appeared in Damian’s eyes. "Could that mean..."
He slowly sat straighter. "They escaped the bad endings connected to those parallel-world destinies, but they haven’t escaped their fate in this current world?"
Damian’s expression became more serious as the pieces finally connected. "That’s why their multipliers still exist."
The system screen flickered once.
---
[Correct.]
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Damian’s mouth twitched. "Goddammit."
Now he finally understood the deeper meaning behind the system’s explanation.
Linsey, Helena, Cynthia, and Evelyn were already free from the tragic routes that had originally defined them as villainesses in those parallel destinies.
However, escaping those endings had not somehow transformed them into harmless ordinary women whose lives would remain peaceful forever.
Quite the opposite.
They had become powerful, dangerous, and increasingly important existences in this current world.
Their original villainess destinies had already ended. What remained now was the fate they were creating here... in the current world, the one where Damian existed.
Damian slowly leaned back against the bed. "So that’s what you meant."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If I completely resolve Vulkara’s, Violetta’s, Cassandra’s, or someone else’s original villainess fate too early, then I’ll lose access to that Destiny Story."
The system answered immediately.
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[Correct.]
[Once the primary source of a target’s original bad ending has been fully resolved, the corresponding Destiny Projection will disappear.]
[At that point, Host may no longer rely upon that Destiny Story to observe potential dangers originating from the target’s original fate.]
[Their future within the current world, especially a future heavily influenced by Host, becomes substantially more difficult to predict.]
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Damian rubbed his forehead. "Damn... so that’s the catch."
He finally understood why the system had called his earlier idea reckless.
"As long as their original villainess fate is still active, I can peek at possible futures through those parallel-world stories and prepare for whatever bullshit might happen."
His gaze shifted back toward the floating interface.
"But once I completely break that fate, their original villainess route ends... and what happens afterward becomes much more unpredictable because they’re walking the path of this world instead."
---
[Correct.]
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Damian clicked his tongue. "That’s annoying as hell."
The room fell quiet again.
He had originally assumed that immediately destroying every source of tragedy would obviously be the safest choice.
Now, however, he understood why rushing could actually cost him one of his greatest advantages.
Information.
As long as those villainess destinies remained unfinished, the system could show him fragments of possible futures.
If he ended every villainess route immediately, he might save those women from their original tragedies, but he would also blind himself to those possible futures.
Damian slowly exhaled. "So the better path isn’t rushing to destroy the source of every bad fate immediately."
His fingers tapped against his knee. "I should first help them grow stronger, change their circumstances, and give them enough power to eventually settle those fates themselves."
The system interface flickered.
---
[Correct.]
---
Damian stared at the answer for a long moment. Eventually, a low laugh escaped him. "Hehehe..."
His expression gradually became relaxed again. "Now that I understand it, though... I don’t really give a damn."
Damian leaned back, his eyes carrying a stubborn confidence. "My harem is still my harem, and my disciples are still my disciples."
His lips curved upward. "If somebody targets them after their old destinies are gone, then I’ll just deal with the new bastard myself."
Damian looked toward the ceiling and chuckled. "Predictable fate or unpredictable fate... who cares?"
His gaze hardened slightly. "If I have to fight heaven itself to keep them safe, then I’ll fucking fight heaven."