A Villainess Should Be Strong

Dispelling nothingness by creating an existence to fill the blanks.

"What an absurd idea. I like it," Chuckling, she manifested her Creation Magic in a joking manner.

At first, she was joking. But as she observed the magic, she felt like her solution was right.

Until now, she has been using her mana as a medium to connect her combination magic. She then wondered. If she no longer used the mana, and instead went ahead and used direct methods to approach the problem?

Would it go through?

She was told to discard all unnecessary components, and as far as her theory went, the mana was an unnecessary part.

She had to rely on it the previous times, but going by the Ruler's words, the being never specified the need to include mana in the party.

If this truly was the solution, then the Ruler's words would also make sense. An external helper. Wouldn't that be the 'emulsifier' she stationed for the combination magic process?

[Perhaps I was the only one who added this 'emulsifier' concept into the fray when I wasn't supposed to..?] Estelle thought.

The more she thought, the more likely it seemed to be.

With her determination surging back into her psyche once more, she dedicated herself to moving into this new method of raising her soul digit.

She didn't immediately transfer to the alternative method. Slowly, she released the mana's large influence from her procedure.

Estelle was used to her past method, so switching was indeed quite complicated. However, she was determined.

Estelle continued the trials and errors, not minding how much time had past. She believed that she was on the right track, that the answer to finally passing the threshold she got blocked from was on the tip of her fingers.

And she wasn't wrong with her intuition and judgement.

Within one day, there it was. An astounding result that cheered her up from all the time she wasted not gaining anything.

She was already heavily familiar with the feeling of having to heal her elements of nothingness, so even with the lack of mana, she only had to make the necessary adjustments for it to work.

Thus, it only required one day at most. Estelle was finally able to see progress in her tracks.

Her soul count was changing with this new method. However, because she did waste time and consideration to concoct a new method, her soul count had dropped by three.

Estelle felt that the soul count was absurdly random with its increases and decreases in digits.

Sometimes, Estelle would feel like she hadn't wasted that much energy, and yet her soul count would drop heavier than when she felt exhausted.

It was a wonder. What did the soul count depend on?

The Ruler never told her the direct answer to that question.

Estelle continued her work. This escape plan would take shorter time than what she spent in the Underworld, but it felt much more taxing.

Sighing, she slipped into focus once more, eliminating all outside interferences and shutting down her conflicting mind.

From then on, it was just a matter of time.

Estelle's fight was finally nearing its end. She had the right methods, the right circumstances, and the right mindset.

She just needed to put it to work, which she did for continuous days.

Within a few days worth of training and cultivation, she was finally standing at the brink of completion.

Ninety nine digits of soul power.

Estelle's fingers trembled slightly as her hand grasped the device that she always relied on to tell her soul's status.

Somehow, a huge wave of emotions surged and hit her.

She obviously did not want to leave as is. She wanted to make a proper farewell with the guide that has been helping her from the start. The Ruler.

She waited, and waited for the being's arrival while keeping up her soul count at 99.

With this, Estelle would be able to go back into the Surface once she made her proper farewells with the Ruler.

Not long after she reached 99 digits, the Ruler paid her a visit.

This was the fateful moment Estelle had been waiting for.

From the very first day of her arrival at the realm, she had gone through quite the fair share of unique experiences.

Along with it, a particularly memorable huge dose of pain during her training. Thinking of it made her skin crawl as the mental imprints of that incident caught up to her.

The two were basked in silence. The tranquility was soothing, yet alarming.

Normally, they would engage in a conversation easily. But for this time, neither of them could find it in themselves to form up words they could say to each other.

Nonetheless, the farewell had to be done.

The Ruler took the role of being the first speaker and started the conversation.

Estelle was standing still in the pure white realm, docile and

"I hope that you at least enjoyed parts of your stay. I had.. fun, I guess,"

"It was also quite fun for me. Although we couldn't spend more time together, you are definitely someone I respect, and will continue to respect forever," Estelle replied, a warm smile permanently plastered on her face.

She didn't know whether to be happy that she was going back, to cry because of the departure, to be angry over the sad fate she couldn't release the Ruler from, or whatever she was feeling.

Her emotions were stirred in such a way that her facial muscles twitched as she tried to express either one of the feelings.

Estelle rubbed the tip of her nose, embarrassed at the sudden influx of emotions after the Ruler's arrival. She knew that the Ruler had the power to read people's minds in the Eterna, and no matter how hard she tried to mask her feelings, she couldn't do it.

"Aahh, this is really bad," Estelle's eyes grew watery.

"Just let it out, there's no one else but you and me in this realm," The Ruler advised.

"..That makes me even sadder. Damn it all!" Estelle cursed. Rubbing her eyes with gentle gestures, Estelle dried her tears before it could fall down.

The Ruler's words reminded her of the being's loneliness and the gloomy fact that it was going to stay alone for who knows how long.

Although Estelle was a bit creeped out by the Eterna, she wished to pay the being more visits in the future. She was highly interested in the realm and the Ruler who governed over it.

"I will definitely come back. That's a promise," Estelle resolutely said.

As a response, the Ruler chuckled awkwardly. "Actually, if you do that, it hinders my work," The being said. "Though.. If it is you, there is indeed a surefire way on how you can freely visit this realm even without the accidental fall,"

Estelle's lips curved up at the being's words. If she wasn't mistaken, its words had something to do with her identity.

The Ruler had told her about some parts, but most of it will be documented inside the data the being gave her.

She grew even more excited to open the data and inspect it thoroughly once she reached home.

'Home'.

When her thoughts glimpsed over that word, she was instantly taken back to the matter of her departure.

Her home was in the Surface, not here. She had duties and responsibilities there. Just like how the Ruler had its own purpose for the Eterna.

She couldn't stay for long.

"..I'm going now, I suppose," Estelle imparted the Ruler with a light smile. Her heart was all over the place, her emotions perplexing, and her thoughts conflicting with each other.

She was definitely going to miss Eterna even though it brought her quite the fair share of negative emotions.

She got something out of it, valuable gifts that she was definitely going to utilize for the rest of her life.

For the amount of sentiments she had build up towards the place, it was quite hard to part from it.

"Your data will be very helpful to me. Thank you very much," From the bottom of her heart, Estelle felt gratitude towards the Ruler, who had assisted her throughout her journey in the Eterna.

She was going to remember the being. This place. Everything. Forever, these memories will be marked as a ride to behold.

Estelle expressed her final gratitude through making a deep bow towards the omnipresent being, her eyes gleaming with confidence the moment she lifted up her head.

[It's time for me to go now.] Estelle internally said to herself.

If she stayed longer in the realm, she was afraid that she would have no courage to go back. She was certain that the fascinating Eterna and the Ruler would distract her from her original journey.

Her goal was to return as fast as possible, and that was why she requested the data as a parting gift for her to read once she returned back to the Surface.

Taking a deep breath in, Estelle started up her magic circuits and began the process of filling in the last gap of nothingness that resided within her.

With this, her soul count will return to 100.

With this, she would go back to the Surface.

Farewell, oh Eterna.