Transmigrating as an Extra Third-Rate Villain

Manifesting another pair of daggers, Ren glanced around for a moment, not surprised upon seeing the approaching main cast.

The most obvious reason why Lily could be here was to stall him, so he was already prepared.

Manifesting six tentacles, Ren allowed them to emerge from his back before embedding themselves in the part of the obsidian door that was right behind him.

Making the tentacles pierce deeper and deeper into the obsidian door, Ren leaned down and prepared to propel himself toward the gap.

Calculating the exact angle, velocity, and distance that he needed to go, Ren stood for a moment before confirming that he had everything correct.

Angling himself toward the upper left corner of the gap, Ren de-manifested the corrupted dagger, causing the light within the underground to vanish.

Behind him, Alya, noticing the disappearance of the light, yelled.

"IT'S STARTED."

Heeding Alya's words, everyone in the group pulled out their weapons except Kazuki, who was riding on his weapons.

Unsheathing his katana, Kaneki desperately covered his mouth while attempting to stand up on the spear.

Taking out her wand, Irene immediately caused a flying torch that followed her around to light up the space once again.

On the other hand, Liam and Kevin raced forward ahead of the rest of the groups with their swords already swinging.

Alya, a bit behind the two boys, took out her rapier before covering it in a layer of ice, instantly causing the temperature to decrease.

Finally, Kevin, with his battle axe already out, followed behind the Kazuki and Kaneki, who were preparing to end their ride on the spear.

On the other hand, Lily, upon seeing Ren ready to burst through the gap forcefully, simply stood still.

As Ren pushed himself forward, Kazuki and Kaneki finally jumped off their spears before joining Liam and Kevin in their dash ahead.

As Liam, at the very front of the group, approached Ren and Lily, a slight sound echoed throughout the underground space.

*DRIP*

*DROP

*DRIP*

*DROP*

The sound of hundreds of water droplets falling onto the cold obsidian floor caused Liam to halt in confusion.

Then, a small bubble suddenly emerged right behind Ren.

In less than a second, before anyone could react, that water bubble grew and grew until it finally covered the top portion of the obsidian door.

Inside the water bubble, Lily and Ren could be seen standing across from each other.

Ren, already in the air, noticed the water bubble but didn't do anything as he immediately added it into his calculations and noticed it wouldn't affect his path through the gap and into the vault.

Flying through the air, Ren stared with a confused expression at Lily.

The water bubble didn't just block his entrance; on the contrary, it helped him.

It prevented the main cast and the two recruiters from reaching him, giving him more time to get through the gap and into the vault.

Then, Ren noticed something odd.

Lily had completely stepped out of the way, and she was no longer blocking his way into the vault.

If Ren had wanted to, he could have just landed, crouched down, and walked through the gap and into the vault with no problems.

Staring at Ren's fleeting figure with a blank expression, Lily simply watched as he neared the hole.

At that moment, Lily raised her wand, and the transparent water bubble that surrounded both her and Ren suddenly turned black.

Liam, who had halted in front of the water bubble, jumped back as the water bubble turned pitch-black, preventing him from seeing the robber and Lily.

Behind him, the main cast, Kazuki and Kaneki, finally caught up and stared at the pitch-black water bubble in front of them.

Alya, breaking the silence, approached the water bubble before turning to Liam and asking.

"What is this? Does she have some sort of plan? Did she tell you anything? Why did she block us out like this?"

Liam, pausing for a moment, recalled how Lily had completely ignored him before turning the water bubble opaque.

Was she some sort of secret signal that she had sent him?

A secret code, perhaps?

But, no, as Liam recalled the scene, nothing came to his mind.

Slowly shaking his head, Liam replied.

"I don't think so...I might have m-"

"Who cares?"

Interrupting Liam mid-sentence, Kaneki stepped forward, having recovered from his spear ride earlier, with his katana ready.

Staring at the rest of the main cast, Kaneki continued.

"The robber is in that water bubble, right? No matter what your friend seems to be planning, the robber is trapped and can't escape. Let's just go capture him, alright? We can worry about this 'teamwork and friendship' shit later."

Leaving the rest of the main cast in silence, Kaneki stepped forward with his katana, and then, before anyone could react, Kaneki thrusted his katana forward into the pitch-black water bubble.

As ripples began to appear and the water bubble fell apart, Kaneki immediately backtracked before yelling.

"COME BACK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE WET."

Regaining their composure, the rest of the main cast and Kazuki followed suit, sprinting down the obsidian door to prevent being drenched with water.

Everyone stood with their weapons ready except Liam, who seemed to be shaken or rather confused.

Recalling how Lily had not even bothered to look at him before turning the bubble a pitch-black, Liam sighed.

Regaining his composure, he picked up his sword, staring at the collapsing water bubble.

Even though he knew Lily wasn't going to do anything evil, he still felt hurt and somewhat betrayed.

She had made plans behind his and everyone else's back.

Lily's face wasn't one of surprise or confusion; it was calm and tranquil.

She had expected...or even planned for this moment for a long time.

But, unfortunately, that wasn't anything new to him.

Pushing the thoughts of Lily out of his head, Liam focused on the only thing that mattered now.

Protecting the vault and catching the culprit.