0̶͍͔͕̺͇̲̫̜̘̥͌́͗͐̿̍3̵̢̨̛͚̲̹͔͓̹̟͎̆̈́̐̽̾͌̍̾̃͊̌͒̕5̶̢͎͓͓͊́̓́̃̉͜͝

The father figure that she had always longed for. One that would shower her with love. One that would not choose another person’s daughter over her. One that would stay by her side no matter what. That delusion had finally shattered, it crumbled to the ground just like how her heart instantly dropped.

She thought she had prepared herself for this to happen, being betrayed again. Yet, it was by her own choices that made it happen, if she had submitted to their brainwashing and let that caged life continue then her conscience would not allow that.

‘What a worthless thing for a villain to have, such traits should only be reserved for a hero.’

She felt like something was trapped in her throat, the sensation of tears were welling up inside of her.

Yet when she turned away from the ‘demons’ and the humans with only the Crown Prince able to see her face, the bitter taste of tears reached her mouth.

Her nose felt like it was burning, her eyes blurring as she constantly replayed what the Duke had said to her.

The reality had finally sunk in. Corlissa Veronique was the villain of this world, no amount of change could alter such a fate, suffering is her repentance for the pain she caused others before.

A villain can’t have happiness, they can’t gain happiness under the same sun as a hero.

The love interest, the Crown Prince, was meant to fall in love with the heroine as she becomes the only person who sees the Prince for himself. Yet even that has changed, due to the interference of Corlissa Veronique.

Each day passed in the home created by Corlissa in the barren land and slowly, the 7th night came reeling in.

With a sorrowful expression, the Crown Prince questioned as she was preparing to leave, “Why did you do this?”

Corlissa answered with a bitter smile, “This is a small price to pay for the benefit of others.”

“If you’re the villain, why are you speaking like a hero?”

“A villain is just a hero who fights for their comrades, even at the cost of the world,” Corlissa solemnly replied.

“But aren’t you fighting for the world right now?” the Crown Prince uttered confusedly.

“The people I want to protect just happen to align with the world and the only way to keep them safe without me being there is by being the villain. That’s enough on this topic, let’s go.”

The Crown Prince was left perplexed as he mulled over his own thoughts.

In the time that the pair was ‘relaxing’, the rest of the world was preparing for a war of chance and luck. As predicted by Corlissa, neither of the races fought each other, despite their bewilderment on the situation where people had doppelgangers they still cooperated.

They did not have enough strength to overpower the Veronique by themselves, so they kept a clear mind with the absence of any prejudices and, like responsible adults, worked together to increase the likelihood of defeating the Veronique.

They tirelessly trained young talents to prepare for the battle that the villain had declared on their world, no one knew where they were and even though there were suspicions that they were hiding in the barren lands, no one had the resources to venture into the vast area.

The brightest strategists had little to show for their ability as such a predicament had never occurred before, an enemy like the Veronique was an obstacle that made sure no one could make a definite plan with a certain chance to defeat her.

Politics and social hierarchy had been thrown out the window, everyone was tested for magic, every human had participated no matter their age, background, culture or social status. It was the ideal social scenario but also the least ideal due to how they only reached such a situation due to war.

Both races were crowded in the promised meeting area, only the major figures were visible without hiding, everyone else was shrouded by shadows behind the surrounding buildings. If amicable negotiations fall out then they would take her by surprise.

King Merillis, Headmistress Vendiota Invectius, Duke Eston Veronique, Commander Rendall Lancelot, Commander Orvon Geraint, Chancellor Valion Prudentius, Grand Mage Eliot Demetrius and their doppelgangers were all gathered together waiting for the young Veronique to arrive.

“Hey, if we’re all alive after this, let’s have a drink sometime,” the Duke suggested to lighten up the mood before they possibly began a war. If all else failed they planned to attack her emotional state by making her fight her former classmates if they were all defeated. But, has there ever been a time when ultimately, the villain wasn’t defeated.

The world that the previous Villainess desired was manifesting into reality, a reality that can hopefully let her slumber for eternity in peace. Even if it was at the cost of Corlissa’s daily life.

The glowing red stars scattered across the night sky, the skyline littered with ominous buildings, the previously bright white moon was now a pale crimson, this was now the norm that the humans had gotten used to.

“You certainly took your time, Miss Veronique,” Chancellor Valion Prudentius’ doppelganger playfully spoke as she appeared out of thin air again.

With a light chuckle, Corlissa made the Crown Prince also appear out of thin air, “I suppose you want to keep a civil approach.”

“Of course, could you please inform us of the reason you are acting in such a way,” King Merillis questioned, masking his anger at her.

“Your ignorance is the reason, the ‘demons’ who had taken the life of the previous villainess, the humans that knew nothing of her suffering. All of you who had taken the life of an innocent person with a pure heart, I’m exacting revenge for her by my own hand.”

“Is there any way we can solve this?” questioned the Grand Mage’s doppelganger with growing anxiety.

Corlissa responded with slight remorse intricately hidden behind her mask, “Unfortunately, I have to see things through to the end.”

“I am the villain, the plot cannot continue without my removal. For the future and present, I declare war as the villain of this world, it is beyond salvation. Nothing can be done.”

The Duke kept his head down throughout the interaction, little of his emotions being able to be seen past his royal blue hair covering his face.

“I’m sorry, the world is of a higher priority than a single person,” the King stated with minute sadness as he lifted his hand.

Everyone that was trained was hiding in the shadows behind the building instantly came out, some people descending from the sky to ambush the young woman.

Corlissa closed her eyes before revealing steely blue eyes that look as if they pierce into the very depths of one’s soul. Her resolve was strengthened and her power was concentrated, even as she saw faces that she recognised from walking around the towns near the Duke’s mansion.

Knights of the royal guards ran in before everyone else, ambushing the young Veronique, as her eyes were still closed. The instant her eyes opened, every attack was parried and deflected with a bright flash.

Corlissa had drawn out a sword with only one side sharpened and it curved slightly upward.

As more people unleashed magic attacks, group ones that she had never faced even once in her time at the academy yet she was able to effortlessly counter them in the most effective way possible with minimal movement.

“Dragon of Flames!” someone had called out as a spiralling object of fire chased down Corlissa.

The heat made everything look distorted as it grew closer to the Veronique, yet her calm disposition was unnerving, her face showed no emotion as she also made no sign of moving even with the attack charging at her.

“Did you really think something as weak as that would affect me?” she mocked.

She raised her sword and in a flash, the flames were dispelled with the use of her weapon but there was no evidence of her using magic.

“Are we so weak that she doesn’t need to use magic?”

“Why is she not using her magic?”

“How did she dispel magic without using a spell?”

Many mutters quickly made their way out of many people’s mouths but they had already expected that she was a difficult foe to defeat. They didn’t let her strength sway them and continued with an onslaught of attacks.

Each of the elemental magics of the same style would merge and swirl together for more destructive power, support mages used magic that was better for amplifying the power of the attacks. Many of the young students still learning how to wield magic were not able to take the front lines and were tasked with supplying mana to those who were attacking Corlissa.

Instead of staying on the defensive only drawing her sword when an attack was growing close to her, Corlissa’s stance had finally shifted. She was preparing to attack, everyone was now on their guard.

A panicked yell commanded, “DEFENCE LINE!”

A shield was erected in front of everyone, people with shields embedded with magic were held aligned by strong soldiers, furthering the strength of their defence.

However, even with the protection of such an extravagant barrier, Corlissa had simply cut through cleanly like it was butter. People began falling to the ground.

Absolute chaos.

‘This is beyond my expectations, we’re in trouble,’ the Grand Mage mulled over as he analysed Corlissa’s attacks and defence.

“Is that all? You’re much weaker than I expected even with the cooperation of 2 races and such a large number of people.”

Corlissa’s cold glare stared them down as they felt a cold shiver welcome them all earnestly, she was quite suited to be royalty with the elegance she held in her intimidating gaze. She stood tall despite the bodies falling around her.

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Thank you for your patience, I'm really sorry for the lack of updates recently. I'm kind of losing interest in my own story, uhhh I don't know how that works but yeah. I'm basically two-timing because I thought of another story idea lmao, I hope you can understand and I'll do my best to get back on track with updates.