A Villainess Should Be Strong

Estelle continued brooding over the 'reason' why these things would happen in succession.

The plots were dangerous. One by one, she was stimulated.

Was it truly just because of her villainess role?

Thinking about it, she sighed.

After considering her choices, she decided to opt for the greater and more visible trouble here: the city's safety.

She was delayed by a short while.

Although the man did not cost her that much time, in a dire situation, each second mattered.

As Estelle felt the time ticking, she licked her lips and theorized the best way to solve this.

Clearly, she could go up and fight the monsters right now, but there were some things wrong with that.

First, her silver hair color was rare. It could be said as something that only belonged to the Clareste bloodline. Although other silver hair shades existed, ones that were as beautiful and eye-catching as Estelle's did not exist.

She could mask her hair, but the spell could potentially go wrong mid battle. She was going to have high momentum, and casting spells that changed your appearance usually required much concentration to maintain.

Her going to the battle would be uncanny either way. A child protecting people from massive harm? She was afraid that they would catch her and force unrealistic options at her.

Do a massive bombing? The entire city would perish.

It wasn't impossible, but there was another reason for her dislike towards helping them.

It wasn't because she was evil, but because she didn't want the worst thing to happen.

The 'thing' wouldn't happen in a short span of time, but will end up with results by as time progressed.

Sensing Estelle's grumbles, Heine took the chance to make his offer.

"Estelle, just go up to the sky and look at things from there. I didn't expect this attack, so I won't have any leads this time. I believe that you can find the source of the problem by yourself," Heine said as he stretched his arms and prepared to take flight.

"And you?"

"I will help the soldiers. But if we keep busying ourselves with the monster attacks, the orchestrator behind this all won't get caught,"

Heine knew that she was burdened with her status and position. Her age was also a bother.

Estelle pursed her lips and lowered her gaze.

Indeed, this was a solution.

However, one thing would also happen as a result.

A power regression.

To be honest, this was a matter that plagued Estelle a lot.

The people were losing against the world's development. They couldn't match the speed of evolution.

The power balance was going to be disrupted this way.

Up until now, powerful beings like her, Heine, Minerva, or Yulia always had to step up to solve problems inside their countries.

She didn't know how well the other country fared, but she doubted that there was another one as bad as Alynthi.

The country was practically doomed to perish if not for them, no?

If this time, they also helped and created a false sense of security within the masses...

The progression would worsen even further.

They would think that everything was going to be fine.

The existence of a 'hero'. A savior.

A ton of people would end up relying on this 'great person'.

However, what they forgot was, what if this 'great person' dies or leaves them in any way, shape, or form?

They would be turned into chaos.

A toxic mindset.

It was hard to not rely on others. It was also hard to get out of a dependent relationship.

The people now lived in a time period where peace was everywhere. No wars, no tricky political devises, or anything.

They were too soft to withstand the ongoing change.

Thus, Estelle decided to make a harsh choice.

"Heine, when you get there, wait until the people are really in trouble. Let the Knights do their best first. Don't just get into the fray," Estelle said without emotion.

Her eyes, though, failed her.

Pain and anguish. The two emotions that accompanied her decision.

It was heavy. To think that she would dare to throw away some people's lives, the lives of the masses just to wake up the other peers.

There needed to be casualties before people understood the severity of a situation.

Why was that, she wondered?

Estelle had seen how the people reacted.

They were panicked and not in accordance to what an evacuation should be at all.

Loud, unorganized, and weak.

She would try little by little. She couldn't do it all at once, but she hoped that the fear of death and destruction would implant itself firmly inside the people's heads.

"..Very well," Heine replied, imbuing himself with magic before bidding his farewells and taking his fae form to release his wings and obtain the power of flight.

He understood Estelle's intention, and did not question it.

Yulia quickly followed after him.

Parting ways with those two, Estelle covered her entire self in stealth magic.

She flew up to the sky, just like what Heine advised her to.

Scanning the surroundings, she was unable to find anything worth noticing.

She took her flight abilities and scoured the skies.

She was able to see the Knights fighting with all their might, yet failing to completely save themselves.

They were injured, but they kept persevering. Knights were mentally trained in the first place, but only willpower couldn't finish the job.

They were still losing.

She had the desire to help them, but knowing that a large majority of them would end up safe thanks to Heine's help reassured her.

Estelle stayed in the sky momentarily and focused on looking for the objective.

She often got distracted by the pained screams and shrieks, but she tried her best to not mind it.

Then, something appeared in her radar.

A pointer was designated to an unused tower.

[There seems to be a high concentration of mana.] Setting the tower as her next location, she flew in maximum speed towards the building.

The distance was not that much, so she was able to reach the place in no time.

She landed on a window. With her small body, she slipped inside and confirmed her target's location.

It was upstairs. One floor directly above her.

Shoving away her fear, Estelle looked around and found a staircase. One that would lead her to the man unknown man.

She climbed up the stairs.

Everything was dark, but there was a small window pane that probably was a ventilation.

Entering the dark room, she took a few steps forward and stopped once she saw a figure pop out.

The figure wasn't surprised that a stranger entered. Just like they had already expected Estelle's arrival.

Although there was clearly something strange, Estelle continued walking forward.

Until she reached the man.

From the broken windows, light shone in and illuminated the tall figure.

Wearing a complete silver armor set, the person's head was pointed at Estelle's direction, but a helmet was covering the features, making her not able to discern the person's identity.

"You're here," It was a man's voice.

Estelle couldn't recognize the voice, but she grew more wary.

The man's words clearly stated that he predicted Estelle's arrival.

She did not like this feeling of being led on. It was possible that she was only able to locate the man because he wanted to meet her.

Scrutinizing the man with great effort, Estelle failed to get any necessary information from him.

Estelle tried to use an all seeing appraisal skill on him, but it didn't work.

The man's face was covered by a sturdy helmet, so she wasn't even able to input the man's appearance.

She thought that the mask was intended to be something to not be removed, or at least one that had to be removed through special measures.

Alas, she was wrong.

The next second, The man started to raise his hand slowly.

Estelle coiled mana and prepared to attack. She was not in a stance, but she would be able to go into any stance at even the slightest trigger.

The man's hands traveled upwards and stopped in front of his face.

He then gripped the sides of the helmet and exerted enough force to snap the helmet out and removed the article of clothing.

The man's face was revealed.

The bright, golden light of the evening sun shone upon him as he looked at the girl standing before him.

It was a face Estelle had seen many times before.

Although never directly.

The man was someone who was renowned throughout the lands inside the Underworld. Documented into books and scripts.

His achievements were notable, and he had lived from the period of the previous ruler up until now.

That same man, who she had only seen inside the books was now standing in front of her.

Arayle's mentor and parental figure.

And the one Heine depicted as the mastermind behind the emergence of the new chaos.

"..Elias," Estelle called out carefully.