A Villainess Should Be Strong

After another thousand years passed, they were finally ready to launch the world.

They called the world: the Surface. Because it was the Surface where living things would walk on.

The Surface was pretty when it was brand new. Everything was spectacular and a feast to the eyes.

They first started putting the Spirits' race generator down in the forest that would later be known as 'Sylvania'.

The Spirits thrived in the environment they created. Being bundles of joy and happiness scattering around the forest and interacting with each other happily.

Then, they started to place the other races' generators in locations they have designed them to.

At first, it ran smoothly and didn't encounter any blockage.

However, it soon got out of control. The consciousness each individual had was bound to create a contrast. Some started to destroy each other, but the bountiful life coming from the Spirits would cover it up, and the life would be abundant but not enough to restore it back to when it first started launching.

Estraea looked at the world that was slowly but surely unfurling into chaos and was thrown into a state of confusion.

Why would this happen?

She imagined a world that would be based on

They forgot one thing. Or perhaps the Absolute forgot one essential thing that happened during Estraea's creation that caused him to be stunned in the first few moments.

That once creatures were given a complete consciousness, they would be independent and could deviate heavily from the data the creators gave them.

This led to the birth of negative emotions such as hate, actions such as corruption, and scenes such as war.

Realistically speaking, this was bound to happen.

Estraea looked at the chaotic state with sadness clouding her eyes. She couldn't bear to look at it any longer.

She decided that there needed something to be done. And since no one else could accurately convey her meaning and intentions, she would go down to the mortal realm, the Surface, by herself.

She masked her divine power and entered the realm easily. She had the control over the realm because she created it. It allowed her to enter the realm through a slip.

This would mark the beginning of her encounter with the man she would grow to love.

Aleksei's appearance in the mortal realm, along with another woman who loved him, Ophelia.

The two main characters that played the biggest hand in her downfall. In her soul's shattered state that would lead up to all the events that happened right now in the 'new' Surface.

____

Estelle woke up with tears in her eyes. She didn't know what caused it.

She was still inside the realm, but she noticed a large difference within her soul. Her originally endangered soul had now come to stabilize itself to a point where she wouldn't feel as much pain.

She just knew that she recalled a lot of memories, and that somehow brought pain to her. Even though all the memories were happy ones.

She finally recovered parts of her past life's origins. She was a creation made by the Absolute himself, and that they were very closely related.

Another major thing was the voice that the Absolute possessed. After careful thinking, she discovered that the guidance she received was also done using that voice.

Which meant that the Absolute had spoken to her, and yet did not reveal anything.

Estelle focused on setting herself up for the last push that would get her out of the trapping realm. She was exasperated and could not bear to leave the space she was currently in.

She focused on managing her powers, soothing the soul and making it flourish until it was filled up to the brim. Then she began corroding the seals around it the same way she did with the seal in her head.

She was capable of unlocking the joints with ease. It was like her seals were meant to be broken this way at this point and time, and as such the process became a lot smoother.

When she tried to decipher it in the past, it wouldn't budge in the slightest. And yet, this time, it was even as if the seal was giving her the correct pathway to solving the seals.

After minutes of fiddling, Estelle wiped sweat off of her forehead as she felt the seal finally unravel completely. She had done the deed.

[Alright... I got it.] Estelle felt the change happen in her body in an instant.

This seal would supposedly unlock her qualifications, the ones that had been stored away all this time.

She checked her status, and indeed, there it was.

Five new titles. Four of them were similar titles that declared each race's love towards her, whereas the last title was like a unifier. [Loved By The World].

Such a cheesy title was the key to obtaining her status as the Constellation Leader, and as such, was also the key of getting into a safe position.

Her unstable soul would not have a chance to recover unless she garnered the things her guides told her to.

Estelle readied herself up, feeling stronger than ever as she felt her consciousness return to her.

She woke up in the Surface. Restraints were placed all over her, and she felt uncomfortable all over.

Estelle couldn't afford to waste more time, however, as she was immediately met with Heine's piercing eyes.

She had prepared herself for this moment. She knew that the moment she came back, Heine would be there watching over her.

She had to thank her lucky stars that she managed to make it before Heine finished his own special 'operation'.

She scanned the surroundings and saw that the old Duke Miller was nowhere in sight. There was only Heine.

The man's eyes were deluded, no longer did he contain the same mix of maturity and childishness he once had. The mischievous personality he had as a Fae that was involved in trickery.

She, too, could no longer take Heine's actions normally. He was someone who had wronged her far too many times. Up until now, she hadn't realized it.

But now that she did, she couldn't face him the same way.

There was a stigma that brought her fear every time she wanted to look in his eyes.

Estelle hadn't unlocked Astarte's part of memories. She only had a faint idea about who Heine's past life was.

The God Astarte, someone who loved his sister wholeheartedly and went crazy after losing her.

Death can be separated into many ways. For existences that died, and hadn't reached Value 0 yet, they can be accepted into the Cycle of Reincarnation and be born into another vassal. They wouldn't recall their memories, but they would still exist within the universe.

The death Goddess Estraea faced was nothing like that. Her soul was shattered, and that immediately put her as a Value 0. However, in place of that, the Absolute did the unthinkable in order to not lose her.

Her death was such a dishonorable one. No one could accept how the world lost the lovable figure that easily just because of a series of unfortunate events triggered by mere mortals.

This wasn't just anyone. It was the Goddess of Creation, Estraea. Someone who was meant to be loved by the whole universe. And yet, she was subjected to such blasphemous actions that she wasn't even able to enter the Cycle of Reincarnation and had to be preserved in another way.

However, the fact that her life was taken away and is now being held up by a thin piece of string that bound her to the World Tree was still painful.

It was painful for everybody.

Now that Estelle had recovered parts of her memory, every time she tried to imagine the upper realms, her heart would ache with a stinging pain. It was a memory she did not recall, but a trauma was etched into her entire being.

She only knew that the God Astarte was definitely hurting hard after her departure. She could understand how the man felt on a desperate person's point of view, but all of that understanding flew away when she was the one being hurt.

She was the one being put in pain in the name of 'salvation'.

She couldn't take it. She had to restrain herself with all her energy just to make sure she doesn't lurch at the man and take her revenge right here and then.

Because she knew that she wouldn't be able to tolerate the fight. She still had to bid time until she managed to recover fully and gain enough power to take revenge.

"Heine. Please, listen to me," Her eyes glistened as she begged.

Heine was still taken aback, possibly from Estelle's early awakening. Obviously, if they went according to the true process, Estelle should've woken up a lot later.

And yet, she was here right now.

Estelle took in the tense situation and observed her chances. She thought about what she had learned about Heine.

[There must be something I can use.] Estelle thought.

In his first life, his name was Astarte. The non blood related younger brother to the Goddess of Creation Estraea.

Naturally, he was also a deity, and his powers over this world was not something that she could challenge right now. The Absolute himself had warned her of the matter.

Heine's mind wasn't sane right now. It had been corrupted by the sheer influx of negative energy and couldn't think straight.

She knew that Goddess Estraea was this corrupted mind's weakness. The mind that worked behind all the chaos that ensued right now was a being that loved Estraea to the max. Everything was done for the Goddess.

If so, Estelle wanted to take advantage of that.