A Villainess Should Be Strong

She couldn't have mistaken the chain.

It was just like the previous times she came in contact with the energy.

She couldn't have mistaken it, because it was something she spent years living with.

The most detested thing she came across.

The chains contained Arayle's power. No, at this point, Estelle was unsure whether she could call it Arayle's power anymore.

So many mysteries, so many users that manipulated this magic of Destruction.

What was the Destruction Magic? Where did it come from, and why was she so affected by it? Why were people outside of Arayle able to use it?

As far as she knew, Estelle was the only one who utilized Creation Magic. She had never came across another user, unlike the scenarios with Arayle that could be managed.

Estelle felt frustrated. Powerless. Even though she had just came back from immediate danger. Even though she thought that she was finally free.

She thought she became stronger after coming back.

No, it wasn't just a thought. She did get stronger.

It was just that she was powerless against her nemesis.

Estelle struggled, and struggled, but her mana wouldn't coil up.

Not only did Arayle's magic bound her, there was also an anti-magic property that prevented her from utilizing her magic.

Estelle realized the probable cause of this.

Heine never wished for something bad to happen to Estelle. He stood between the very thin line of being Estelle's greatest friend, while simultaneously being the catalyst to Estelle's dilemmas.

She began to think. She forced herself to think.

Heine's existence was too convenient. As if he purposely acted as a stimulant for Estelle's growth.

Heine never grew accordingly. His power would always be a step lower than Estelle, but this fact would then be overturned by his future actions whenever she got into trouble.

Heine's powers would mysteriously shoot up, allowing him to do things that he couldn't previously.

Everything seemed to be a massive game. In which she was the sole player who was unaware of everything, where her events would be controlled.

[How utterly dubious.] Estelle felt an undeniable itch sprout inside her heart, burdening her.

After the chains, it didn't end there. Estelle proceeded to try and get her way out of the restraints, but it was to no avail.

She could see a flash of sadness and worry fly over Heine's eyes.

To that, she thought that the man was hypocritical.

How could you act sad if you weren't forced to do this? Why?

Instead of just begging for forgiveness, Estelle would've looked at the man much more fondly if he decided to prove it with his own actions.

But Heine didn't stop, right? He didn't.

Estelle couldn't find an acceptable reason from which his actions would be justified.

Didn't Heine's actions count as betrayal?

Estelle hated those who betrayed her the most. Even to her closest colleagues, this rule applied. Heine would not be an exception.

"Forgive me, dear," Heine repeated, wishing for forgiveness from the girl.

Starting from the restraints, he began to branch out into immobilization methods. Soon, Estelle was not even able to move. Her speech was taken away, and she felt sleepy.

There were so many things she didn't know of. She was aware of that fact.

However, when one of them was the fact that she has been living beside a dangerous person this whole time and not realizing anything before it was too late, it became much more painful. She should've known better, but she didn't.

"Oh, dear sister, it would've been better if you willingly participated in the plan. Look at what I have to do now," Heine's faint words entered Estelle's ears.

A trace of regret laced the words.

However, that didn't matter right now.

Heine mentioned a foreign title.

[Sister? Heine has a sister?] Estelle thought.

Although Heine viewed her as an unconscious person, that wasn't the case at all.

Through the training Estelle experienced, Estelle actually found a specific ability that she thought she had lost previously.

The ability to think while still unconscious. That feature of hers was once again awakened when she cultivated for an entire month in the Eterna.

The mental stress and duress had polished her mind to such a sharp point that she thought she was reverting back to being Reina, the emotionless, robotic human.

But that wasn't the case. Estelle was still Estelle, complete with her unique set of emotions.

Even so, this feature had brought her to feel a sense of abnormality.

[Why does it feel like... he means me by the title 'sister'?] Estelle thought.

There was a sense of familiarity in that one moment Heine called her sister.

But as far as she recalled, she did not have any siblings.

Like a direct call from her soul, wanting to reach out to Estelle.

[What is this feeling?] Estelle wondered.

However, she didn't have the chance to ponder upon the matter for longer. Her consciousness started to fade.

Estelle felt a jolt of pain before she could process the information further. Her mind spun, and she lost touch with the external world as she fell into a stage of complete coma, possibly due to being overpowered by Heine's maniacal power.

[Curse you..] Estelle said before falling victim to the condition.

"Forgive me," For the third time, Heine whispered. "Everything is for your sake. I wish to see you one more time.. Back to when we were-"

Heine's words were cut off by a barrage of coughing. From little coughs, it escalated to a series of suffocation, trying to gasp for air. From then, Heine continued coughing to the point where he coughed blood out.

"...I need to bear it," Heine wiped the red liquid from his mouth and looked at Estelle's beautiful peerage.

"For my sister... my Goddess," Heine caressed Estelle's silver hair before treading to her glabella. He kneaded on the location, soothing the wrinkles formed on said space.

"It'll be over, this bottomless pit that has consumed all of us," Heine leaned on her head, enduring the pain that he himself had to face.

Internally, he was also facing a crisis.

The fact that his three lifetimes were unleashed and merged into one at the same time burdened his entire being.

He no longer knew whether he was Heine, Yuuma, or the revered God Astarte.

But they shared one goal, and that is to protect Estelle. To be precise, the soul behind Estelle.

As such, they would go as far as to create the entire storyline.

So that Astraea's soul could be returned to before it was destroyed.

The reasoning behind Estelle's constant downfall was clear to him, but not to the actual person herself.

Heine winced as he felt the horrendous pain hit him one more time. He struggled to breathe as he forcibly calmed himself down. His hands firmly gripped into Estelle's bed railings.

"A little more... a little more," Heine consoled himself.

After wiping out a thin layer of sweat garnered from bearing the pain, Heine stood up, opened a space rift, and exited from the room.

Of course, he didn't do everything without much consideration and planning. His moves were always ones that came after many contemplations.

He had placed a lifelike doll just like what Estelle envisioned and placed it on the bed. After eavesdropping on Estelle and Lylia's conversation, he came to know that Estelle was planning to do so.

That made everything easier for Heine, who obtained a convenient excuse and cover for his abduction.

All Lylia would know when she entered the room later is that Estelle had gone to fulfill her promise of fixing everything. No thoughts would be directed towards a kidnapping.

____

"MMH!" Estelle woke up feeling burning pain coursing through her entire body. The sheer pain made her wake up from utter shock.

Estelle's memories were still jumbled up, but she clearly recalled Heine attacking her for his 'purpose'.

Estelle began to panic. Before she could struggle further, a voice entered her ears.

"This is not the right way, young one," An elderly man's voice spoke.

Then, there was tapping against a table in a rhythmic pattern.

"..It's the only way. To salvage her existence.. you know that death is always tailing her, no matter what she does,"

[This voice is..] Estelle processed the audio.

The one addressed as 'young one' was Heine. She recognized the voice.

The elderly man's voice also sounded familiar, but she could only faintly recall who it belonged to.

She had heard the voice before.

[Who was it?]

"I know. Ever since you granted me with that corrupted power, I knew," The man spoke.

"It was your wish. Don't forget about it. The reason you can 'stay' with your dead daughter even to this day is me. You have a responsibility to repay the deed,"

[Corrupted power? Dead daughter? This story!] Estelle began to remember.

She recalled someone that had similar circumstances.

"Don't call her dead!" The man refuted Heine's speech. "Do not call her that. Ever,"

"Likewise, don't forget to fulfill the initiation process, Spectre," Heine audibly sighed, as his steps drew nearer to where Estelle was confined in.

"Her seals have to be broken now. In order for her to appoint the members, to appoint me," Heine continued speaking.

[Spectre and my seals. Then, that voice is..!] Estelle widened her eyes as moaned in pain.

With the current clues, Estelle figured out who Heine's conversation partner was.

Her senses were stolen. Her voice, her sight, it was ripped away from her.

She could only depend on her hearing.

Realization hit her.

What Heine was about to do. What his desires were.

As Heine slowly came closer to her body, Estelle further squirmed, trying to back away.