A Villainess Should Be Strong

Chapter 43: Arayle

"Kalis, you bastard!" Heine retrieved Estelle's fallen body and backed away. He noticed that Kalis was the source of Estelle's pain, the shock that caused her to faint.

Heine glared at the currently standing man.

"I'm your King, am I not? Such rudeness.. I will not tolerate it, the fallen King," Kalis retorted, taunting the other spirit.

His deadpanned look was no longer there, it was replaced by a shit - eating grin.

"..You, who abandoned your duties and ignored the Spirit Tree's worsening state will never be worthy of being called a King," Heine focused on healing Estelle, in hopes of getting her consciousness back.

To be honest, he didn't like Kalis, even though the man was decreed to be the King. He wanted to question the Tree's judgement. What had caused it to produce another Ruler?

Why was he discarded?

To his frustration, nothing worked. Estelle's eyes stayed tightly shut, whilst Kalis was looking at the pair with a degrading gaze.

"Whatever you say, the Tree has given me the authority and title. It can't be refuted that I'm the true King, no matter how you try to regain your control back," Kalis shook his head, helpless at Heine's useless efforts in healing Estelle.

"It shouldn't be the people that serves you, it's the opposite! A Fae King serves their people and maintains the world's balance along with the Spirit Tree and our race. That's how it has always been," Heine argued.

His beliefs were something that originated long ago, from the very first record of a Spirit King's existence.

To his words, Kalis laughed like a maniac. Heine's words were the best joke he heard today.

"What, don't you feel like your freedom is being stolen?" Denying Heine's heroic statements, Kalis questioned. "The moment you were born.. like me, you were immediately stationed on the King's seat, because your predecessor died before you were born. In my case, you are here, but weren't you frustrated? Confused? Angry?"

"A King who doesn't love his people will think like that. You are far too naive, Kalis. You've never seen the world, you don't know how important our race and the Spirit Tree is," Heine gritted his teeth. His words couldn't knock any sense into the young spirit's head. It went inside his right ear and directly exited through the left side.

"A Fae King's responsibility isn't just to lead the Spirits. We Spirits are known as the most essential beings in regards to the world's continuation, you can't just be selfish and ruin everything. Be wise, Kalis,"

"You are in no place to lecture me," Kalis stretched out his hand and released an ominous mist, enveloping the entire dungeon and clouding Heine's senses. Heine clenched his fists whilst holding Estelle securely in his arms.

Kalis' magic was different from the Spirits'. It was unnatural and unbefitting of the Spirits who carried the virtue of innocence and wisdom. Kalis' magic was gloomy, and his heart was blinded by the amassed hatred and negative emotions. The negativity was channeled to his mana, tainting the supposed pure Spirit mana into a sickening aura.

However, it was still in the realms of spiritual magic, which led Heine to wonder how Kalis' magic got corrupted to such a point,

"Kalis..!" When Heine realized that the seal that used to lock Kalis' powers had been destroyed, it was too late. His consciousness grew foggy, and the last thing he saw was the smug face Kalis wore.

He felt confused. When Kalis first appeared, his growth was comparable to that of Estelle, but Heine still managed to seal his powers. This should've momentarily stopped Kalis' aggressive and outrageous behavior.

Alas, the truth proved to be different than what you'd expect.

As of right now, Kalis was stronger than him.

How did he manage to grow even under seals?

He faintly saw Kalis break his restraints and move closer to him, prying his arms away from Estelle like he was something that tainted and dirtied the young girl.

Kalis thickened his magic and increased its effects, concentrating it into his fist. The lithe hand was surrounded by pitch black flames that made Heine's stomach churn.

"Good night.. Sleep tight, preferably forever," Kalis jabbed a heavy blow directed at Heine's stomach, effectively ending any last energy Heine had.

Heine felt like he was hit with a thousand needles. The wave of pain was enough to knock him out, forcing his body to drop down and giving up on protecting Estelle.

Heine was full of questions, but his body couldn't hold up as he fainted, regretting his choice to bring Estelle to meet Kalis.

Kalis coldly gazed at Heine's fallen body and went over to Estelle, who was also unconscious.

"Now then.. Shall we depart, milady?" Kalis carried Estelle's body and teleported right away, erasing any lingering evidence as to not disturb the sensitive barriers any more.

Only Heine was left collapsed on the ground. The worst thing was that, Heine's magic was one of the only remaining keys to the secret dungeon. Now that Heine was unconscious, no one was able to enter and check up on him.

Kalis teleported to a place he was long familiar with, to the domain where his master rested.

Upon reaching the entrance, he went through a check up and confirmed his identity before entering.

Estelle was dropped on the floor, her body limped over and made small, static movements.

With Estelle's high regeneration powers and the help of Heine, breaking out of Kalis' magic was not that hard to begin with. She just needed time, especially because she had been taken aback by the painful sensation that overcame her senses.

The sounds of heels clacking against the floor rang before Estelle was able to regain her full consciousness.

"Who did you bring here, Little Fairy?" Her voice sultry and smooth like honey, she approached the two with elegant and composed steps.

"Stop calling me Little Fairy. I have my own name," Kalis clicked his tongue.

"Don't fret over such small matters... Isn't this girl the one master was looking for?" The woman flipped her long hair back and suddenly landed a harsh kick to Estelle.

"How utterly disgusting," The masked woman spoke, their anonymous voice full of mirth.

The woman drew closer and jerked Estelle's head up forcibly by pulling on her hair, pinching her chin and examining her face in close distance with interest.

"Estelle Clareste.." She dragged her fingers across Estelle's cheeks. "What a milky white skin.. Makes me want to create beautiful scars on it,"

"Yion. Master told us that we shouldn't hurt her," Kalis glared at the platinum blonde woman in displeasure. Their Master's words were above all else. Yion's actions were disobeying the rule.

"What a boring person you are," Yion dropped Estelle down again and wanted to leave before she was interrupted.

Sharp javelins landed around her, piercing her long robes and sturdy boots. Her reaction time was severely slowed down as she felt a huge pain bursting through her entire body. She was rendered unable to move, but she didn't resist after digesting the situation.

There was only one person who could subject her to this kind of treatment during the short time span that elapsed prior to the attack.

"Kalis is right. Yion, did you not hear about my conditions before?" Small steps trickled down into the room as the little bells that decorated the unknown being's clothing jingled, creating a peaceful chime.

"M-Master!" Yion's face paled. Kalis hurriedly fell down onto their knees and greeted the little girl, whilst Yion was still stunned by the girl's magic.

"Greeting the Venerable One," Kalis saluted the girl.

"Stand," The girl spoke. "It is not you whom I seek.. It's your other partner. Yion, when I bestowed upon you two the duty of searching for this girl, what did I tell you?" The girl's voice was cold and emotionless. However, the display of no anger petrified Yion even more as she gritted her teeth to bear through the pain and force a few words out.

"Master... I- I was doing it for your sake,"

"Answer my question, Yion. What was my warning back then?"

"I believe.. that I wasn't wrong," Yion persisted, even through the increased pain output.

"Stubborn fool!" The girl sighed, relieving Yion of the pain. A blasting force was cast on the older woman, pushing her body backwards into a staggering motion.

Yion coughed up dark red blood in form of splotches that ended up staining her dress.

"Kalis, take care of her. Make her repent on her actions. I don't want to see that kind of disobedience being repeated one more time," Rubbing her thumb and index finger together, she turned her line of sight to the now half - unconscious Estelle.

"Also.. there are traces of your borrowed magic on her. Don't think that I don't know the reason she passed out.. Kalis. You too used too much force,"

"My deepest apologies. It had to be done to secure the target," Kalis immediately bowed, cold sweat forming on his skin.

"Oh well. I guess you wouldn't be able to get her here without using my magic... I want to spend some time with this little lady of ours. Fall back," The girl lifted Estelle's body and made her stay afloat, staring at her with a meaningful gaze as if pondering about a distressing matter.

"Understood, master," Kalis made another bow before he teleported away with the pain - riddled Yion.

The little girl calmly brought Estelle away with her to a certain direction. After passing through the wide and long corridors, they finally reached a secluded room that was located in the innermost part of the domain.

Dropping Estelle on the bed, she took the initiative to perform some simple cleanups to the girl, taking advantage of her knocked out state.

Not long after, Estelle was able to break through her slumber. Wiping her eyes to clear her vision, the unknown girl who was around her age caught her attention as she warily got up with haste.

Unfamiliar surroundings, someone she didn't know, her memories of being knocked out.

[Since I was taken here... Heine was taken out too?]

"Hi," The girl smiled. "My name is Arayle. Call me Ara?"

Estelle was full of suspicions and prejudice against the girl, but decided to compromise to see what would be the outcome.

[There was also the matter with Kalis.. There's a high chance that Kalis is my counterpart.. The 'Good'.] Estelle resolved herself to inquire more about the situation.

[Wait, where did this girl come from?] Estelle scanned her surroundings in confusion. It was an environment she had never seen before.

A glamorous room. One that would suit a royalty.

"Estelle, right? I'm the one behind Kalis, nice to meet you!" With enthusiasm, the girl spoke. She wasn't ashamed of proclaiming her involvement in Kalis' matters.

"..Nice to meet you," Estelle reciprocated the greeting, although slightly hesitant.

"I must say, seeing you reduced to such a state pleases me very much.. I don't know why," Arayle suddenly stroked the other's rosy cheeks and slid her fingers through her silver strands of hair.

The weakened Estelle was an enticing sight to Ara. Like a powerful stimulant, it encouraged her to attack and get rid of her right now. An adrenaline rush surged through her and spread like a wildfire inside her bloodstream.

However, her main motive was more important.

"I dislike you, but at the same time, I feel like I like you. Can you explain how this is possible?" Arayle tilted her head, demanding an answer as if she wasn't the culprit of the questioned one's abduction.