I will not die a Villainess's death

"What kind of place did we land in? It looks like dead land all around us. I still cannot believe that someone tried to sabotage the Holy Chalice like this. Did they want everyone in the hall to die in the explosion?"

Sara complained as she dragged down the old and decaying branch blocking her path. The whole forest looked kind of dead and empty of any sort of life form.

Eve was kind of dead weight on her back right now but at least she was not hurt badly. Now Sara only wanted Eve to wake up and tell her what happened.

"Huh? Where are we? And where is everyone else? Weren't we just in the Ceremonial hall of the temple? When did we come out?"

Eve woke up without any warning, her eyes looking around to seek out Elysia instantly.

Or that was what Sara gathered.

"There was an accident and we ended up here as a result of it. We all also kind of got separated so I'm trying to find other people nearby. Do you not remember what happened?"

Sara was not surprised to hear that Eve had no recollection of what happened back there. Eve's eyes looked like they were in a trance.

"Not a thing. My brain is as blank as a white paper."

"So nothing out of the usual, right? I guess I cannot even call it a case of brain damage."

"Hey!"

Eve sounded offended but Sara could tell that she was not really offended by what she heard. This was not the first time Sara had called Even empty-headed but the reaction was the same as any other time.

Eve's words sounded clear and strong so Sara risked letting her walk on her own. The first few steps were wobbly but Eve gathered herself by the end of her first five minutes of walking.

"By the way, who is 'everyone' you were talking about before? I just realized that I don't know who else could have come here with–Wait, did Elysia fall in here with us as well? Did I somehow drag her in as well? Oh god, what should I do now? What if Elysia hates me as a result of this?"

Eve was driving herself into a corner with her imagination. Her needle had stopped at Elysia and refused to move ahead.

This was a very familiar scene to Sara and she no longer felt surprised when she saw it.

"Eve, calm down. Crown Prince Adam will take care of Elysia for now since they fell together. We should concentrate on finding Lord Dirac and Lord Sorias for now. They will be able to help us out."

Eve's face turned toward Sara with an annoyed expression. She seemed to only have heard the first part of what Sara said.

"That bastard fell together with Elysia? I am sure he will use this chance to score brownie points with Elysia. Don't tell me! It was all a part of his plan?"

"Likely not. Even a half-dragon doesn't have enough magic to pull six people through the dimension like this. We should look for others before we draw any conclusion-"

There was a rumbling feeling beneath Sara's feet. The earth that had been quiet until now had started to feel alive.

"W-What is happening? Is the ground shaking?"

Eve's surprised face showed what Sara did not say out loud. This was an unexpected development.

Wasn't this place supposed to be abandoned? Then why was the earth-shaking like this?

The earth spilled apart beneath Sara's feet but both she and Eve were fast enough to avoid being dragged to the ground.

Far away from the pair, the sky lit up with spots of red. The huge rocks seemed to be falling from the sky into random spots.

"Fuck, it's a volcanic eruption. We need to look for a place to rest and hide so that we don't get caught up. Let's head toward the mountains and wait this out."

Sara was quick on her feet, her years of experience staying alive finally kicking in and leading her toward a safe spot.

Eve looked stunned to be in this situation. No amount of training could have prepared her for such a unique situation at hand.

"Ugh god. This is too much excitement for a single day. My feet are beginning to kill me now."

Sara complained as soon as she touched the cave's floor. The outside world was still rumbling and it would continue to rumble for some time.

They both did not notice a pair of excited and happy eyes looking back at them. The child who looked almost six years of age crawled out at the first sign of human contact he saw.

But his eyes looked far older than six years old.

"Excuse me ladies, but what are you doing here? I was not aware that this world had any more people in it. I thought I was the only one alive."

The pair did not jump up in a fight but the child did find himself on the wrong side of staff and a pair of claws.

It was the worst first meeting one could have asked for but the child did not look scared at all.

Instead, he had a smiling face and a knowing look in his eyes.

______________________________

"Are you sure it is safe to enter this mansion? We might run into some anti-theft traps and lose our lives if we are not careful."

Adam seemed to be in a joking mood today. Elysia was not sure why he was in such a good mood despite having ended up in a dangerous situation.

Actually, Elysia knew but she actively refused to remember the details. She did not want to be reminded of Adam's confession.

Every time she remembered, Elysia became hyper-aware of her surroundings and how close Adam was to her.

And every time that happened and Adam did not do anything, Elysia felt guilty before feeling Adam's presence nearby again.

It was a non-ending cycle that continued to torment Elysia throughout her walk to the front gate of the Dirac mansion. And every time that happened, Elysia felt guilty for treating Adam like that.

This was not the reaction Elysia had toward Eve so why was she so hyper-aware of Adam? Was it because he was a guy and fundamentally different from Elysia?

Somehow the answer seemed to be a firm 'no' for Elysia. She had a feeling that it was not the reason why she was so hyper-aware of Adam.

She could just always feel where he was and his presence was rather loud in Elysia's receptors as well. There was almost a connection between them that made Elysia so aware of him.

"I am sure this mansion is safe to enter. I told you before that I saw this mansion in my dreams, right? I have an idea how we can enter it now. There should be a switch that acts as an emergency exit. Let me see…"

Elysia had a vague feeling that the switch existed and where to find it. The more she tried to look around, the more similar this place got to the ones she had seen in her memories.

"Is it because this place looks a lot like the Dirac mansion that you are thinking that? I almost thought we were back at the Dirac mansion just a second ago as well."

Now that Adam had pointed it out, this place did look a lot like the Dirac mansion. But there were slight differences that made this place different from her home.

There was a subtle texture difference beneath Elysia's hands and the warmth this place produced was entirely different.

It was difficult to explain how this place was different from Elysia's home but she knew the difference in her feelings and heart.

"This home doesn't look similar to Dirac mansion to me. I don't know how to explain it all but I feel sad seeing this place while I never felt such a feeling back home."

Back home, Elysia did not have time to feel anything. Every day had been busy and people needed Elysia for one thing or another.

Besides, there were people who were waiting for Elysia to come back home there. But this place? This felt old and abandoned by everyone and left to rot.

"Anyway, get ready now. I am hopening up the door."

Elysia pushed the front door open with the help of the emergency device. There was a pause before the wall fell apart and allowed the pair entry.

Elysia entered the place without any hesitation. The place might have been abandoned but it still gave off a safe feeling.

"I think we should wait here for my brother and Eve to come and find us. I am sure they will– Adam, are you alright?"

Adam was growling at empty air, his eyes having gone reptilian-like at what he was smelling.

Elysia could smell a barely-there sweetness in the air. Whatever it was, it was making Elysia's head feel lighter.

If she was feeling the effect of this smell so strongly, then surely Adam must be having a harder time with it. He was the one with the actual animal-like smelling power.

"Elysia, get down. There are undead in the vicinity and you are in no condition to face them."

Adam forced Elysia's head down as the smell got worse. It was also then that Elysia saw the first semblance of life in this cursed place.

And it was in the form of the most mal-nutrition person she had ever seen. But that was not all. There was more than one person like that currently heading toward Elysia and Adam's location.

"These dead bodies are being drained of their magic. We should avoid getting caught by them if we want to make it out alive. Do you think you can freeze them all if I provide you with water?"

"Yes, I can."

Adam had a feral grin on his face as he cast his magic. It had a familiar undertone to it but Elysia could not remember where she had felt this warmth before.

It was addicting and made Elysia want to surrender to it's power and -

"Elysia, attack now. I have them immobilized."

Elysia let out her magic and it joined Adam's to freeze the surroundings. The first danger had finally been braved.