A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Do you have any other questions? Before I go back to the upper realms?" The Ruler asked.

The Ruler's words was an obvious attempt in trying to shift the topic to another matter.

Estelle's lips tightened at its words because it would mean that the Ruler would be alone one more time. She wished that she could accompany him to compensate for the God knows how many years he has been alone for.

It was a natural instinct, a form of sympathy that led her to want to do it.

Estelle's eyelashes fluttered as she thought about the questions she could ask. After thinking carefully, she found one more budding question.

It was about Elias.

The mysterious man of unknown origins that seemed even more threatening than Arayle, who was supposed to be her counterpart.

Deciding to set the man as her object of questioning, Estelle brought the man's name up.

"Ah, do you perhaps know a man named Elias?" Estelle gathered up courage to ask about it.

"..Elias?" The Ruler mumbled the man's name. The being certainly hadn't expected the question.

Its primary goal was for Estelle to be freed from the Eterna, although it would mean that it won't have a partner to communicate with anymore.

However, Estelle's stay in the Eterna would do nothing but harm her. The Ruler didn't want this. So, it decided to guide her as best as it could.

Now, the question Estelle threw was quite off topic. A man named Elias.

Of course, since Estelle mentioned it, the man's identity wouldn't me ordinary. The being tried to search for a man with that name who had special qualities.

Estelle grew hopeful with the Ruler's deep thinking. In her mind, there was a feeling that perhaps Elias truly was her destined enemy all along. The enemy she needed to beat as part of her fate.

The chaotic, unbridled man who knew no bounds in his actions was one of the main catalysts to a large part of Estelle's dilemmas. If he didn't exist, then several of her troubles would disappear.

With each passing second, Estelle became anxious, and overcame with emotion.

She had long suspected that something was off with the man that brought disasters with him everywhere, she just couldn't figure out the grand scheme of things.

After a long wait, the Ruler finally spoke up.

"..Elias Montessori?" The Ruler mentioned a name foreign to Estelle.

Whether it was foreign or not, the main aspect was that the Ruler was aware of a man named Elias.

The name Elias wasn't all that common, and although there would be a chance of it being different people altogether, a hope was a hope.

"..So you know him?" Estelle scrunched up her nose, her heart beating faster as she waited for the Ruler's response with much anticipation.

Elias Montessori. The surname Montessori.

In the books she saw, she never learned of the man's name. He would always be addressed as Knight Elias, but no one knew his surname.

Even in the Underworld, he was a mystifying personnel.

His deeds were admirable, and yet no one truly knew who he was.

Truly a puzzling figure. Estelle couldn't bring herself to fathom how such a man existed.

Estelle was preoccupied with her thoughts, and failed to notice that the Ruler's voice had faded.

She was deeply afflicted by her running thoughts.

About Elias. About Arayle. About her.

Every time she brought herself to think about them, she would always have conflicting thoughts.

There was a thin line that separated everybody and their actions. A line that would decide whether they were enemies or friends.

Like Heine, Minerva, or the most prominent candidate, Sierra.

Sierra was once her close acquaintance, being a cute child that tagged along with her happily. However, once her deeds were discovered, where did that bring the child to?

To become her object of loath.

Although Estelle still found it within herself to forgive the child, she wouldn't forget that the child once became her 'enemy'. Even so, they now had a pretty amiable relationship, with Estelle being willing to help the child and administer proper teachings for her future improvements.

Just like that, she wondered whether people like Arayle and Elias would someday have a chance of becoming her comrade.

Because life was everchanging.

When Estelle realized that the Ruler was absent, she looked around in confusion. After confirming that the being truly did go away, Estelle concluded it as another emergency exit and continued on with her journey to fiddle with her power.

Her routine was always like that, an endless cycle of striving to get better as much as she could in order to progress in her escape from the deadly silent realm.

If the Ruler wasn't there to guide her, Estelle would've given up long ago. The being gave her hope.

Holding on to that hope, Estelle recalled the Ruler's words and advice.

That she was supposed to mix the element of nothingness with her power if she wanted to achieve something much more prevalent than her current stage of power. That she should utilize her time to the best.

Estelle grumbled in displeasure as she still couldn't figure out how to work her way around this simple matter.

Her metaphoric way of describing the elements was oil and water.

Oil and water wouldn't mix. However, when they were spun around together, the oil would eventually be submerged in the water for a short while before separating once more. Oil came to the top, whereas water sank to the bottom as they both intertwined with their own kind, not minding each other.

She was at that status.

Oil was hydrophobic, and in this scenario, it represented the element of nothingness.

Meanwhile, the body of water would be her own powers. The Creation Magic.

She knew that combining them would result in a great power for her to wield. However, she couldn't utilize said energy in the way it should be.

Mixing them would always end up in separation. Her Creation Magic would be tainted with nothingness for a short moment before returning back and being their own respective identities, no changes in the slightest.

How could she create a reaction between the two in order to mix them together?

She tried, and tried, but the result she got was now stagnant. It didn't change.

Since nothing improved even after that many tries, it would mean that her approach was wrong.

She clearly needed something.

She needed to add another partner to these two elements. Something like an emulsifier.

Something that responded to both the element of nothingness and her power.

[I wonder if it's possible to manipulate my mana to create this emulsifier..] Estelle was immersed in her train of thoughts, thinking about every  possible solution she could muster up.

Estelle racked her ideas up into several categories. Her mind was brilliant, and so was her ideas. Motivated with the will to get out of Eterna and resume her journey in the Surface, she continued to persevere.

She knew what her next goal was. This 'emulsifier' that she envisioned was so abstract that it hurt her brain trying to think about it.

It was the closest to a solution, because it actually made sense.

If the metaphor about oil and water was taken into perspective, then truly, the emulsifier is the answer.

However, there was still a problem.

How would she manage to produce such a subject?

It was easy to mention the concept, but actually applying it was different.

Creating something with no reference. Basically, Estelle was on the process of inventing this strange emulsifier.

It wouldn't be an item, it would be something that naturally came out of her. As per the Ruler's advice, she was supposed to be capable of doing everything by herself.

Estelle spun around, trying to animate the feeling of a mixture being made with her own body.

As expected, her best guess was her mana. The peculiar mana she had.

She was perfectly alright at this method of grasping at straws. As long as it would yield a result.

Estelle had to strategically plan everything, because her progress was unexpectedly slow compared to what she imagined.

The Ruler told her that she was fast, but she couldn't take that compliment as is when she remembered about the fact that the time flow that occurred in the Eterna was the same as the Surface.

She had spent ten days being unconscious. She couldn't imagine how worried the people she left behind would be.

Estelle had to speed things up. Ten days were spent. She had to hurry back, lest the trip to this foreign realm drags out too much.

Desperate, the girl sat down and heaved a huge sigh as she began to start her experiments, wanting to test out her ideas one by one until she found the perfect solution.

[I can do this.] Repeating phrases of motivation to herself, Estelle slowly closed her eyes as she began to focus.

This time, she would add a different twist- a spin to her methods.