The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 43
—Kaaak!
Erica had been observing the area presumed to be the base of Class 2 led by Arterion through her familiar.
In the midst of this, she heard a large noise like the cry of a monster and the sound of buildings collapsing, and her familiar began to hover around the vicinity of Class 2’s base.
“This much…”
From Class 4’s base, which was quite far from the origin of the disturbance.
Borrowing the eyes of her familiar, Erica frowned as she observed the castle that had been reduced to ruins.
Vargan had consumed a vast amount of magic power to control the monster and wreak havoc on Class 2.
Even though Arterion was absent, he had effectively wiped out an entire class single-handedly.
Erica didn’t witness the scene directly but understood it through the lingering traces of mana.
Vargan had expended an incomprehensible amount of mana.
Though she had recently noticed an unpleasant change in him, she didn’t expect such growth in such a short period.
Even if he was a genius, was it possible for someone who stopped running to suddenly catch up by just starting to run again?
“Tsk.”
Erica, tasting a strange sense of defeat, clicked her tongue and pondered.
She couldn’t directly observe Vargan’s current situation.
If possible, she wanted to send her familiar closer to check on him directly, but doing so would likely get her familiar reverse summoned.
However, based on the circumstances, it seemed Vargan had pushed himself too hard.
Even though he was praised as a genius, the curse was so severe that his entire body of mana must have overheated and overloaded.
For Erica, who could gauge Vargan’s level a year ago, the current situation was extremely disconcerting but also spurred her on.
This was an opportunity.
A chance to eliminate the most troublesome individual. If Vargan was out, everything else would go smoothly.
The allied forces were also planning to keep Vargan in check.
And now, he was alone in a weakened state.
It might seem like a trap, but with no other traces of magic around, the possibility of someone lying in wait seemed low.
In that case, it was time to weigh the pros and cons and make a quick decision.
“Diphelia. I might be hard to contact for a while. There’s a place I need to go.”
Through the small bird on her shoulder, Erica conveyed her intentions to Diphelia, the leader of Class 5.
She heard Diphelia’s flustered voice, but Erica had already made her decision.
“I found our target. Please send about five elite members to support.”
—Erica, are you sure about this?
A voice filled with concern came through. Erica responded with a faint smile.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Erica summoned her unique magic power. It materialized and immediately enveloped her entire body.
Soon, the completed magic was activated.
The gathered mana energy began to disperse.
—Hoo… will it really be okay?
From the small bird left behind, Erica’s figure was no longer visible.
The only student in the Academia who could use dimensional magic. The ability to manipulate space.
It was warp magic.
***
—Kaaak! Kaaak!
The crow familiar circling near Erica flapped its wings vigorously, welcoming her.
Like a pet excited to see its owner after a long time.
“It seems you still cherish the one I gifted you. It’s delightful to see its feathers shining so brightly.”
“Get your words straight. It wasn’t from you; it was a familiar adopted by the Schugenhartz family.”
“Same difference.”
Erica activated the warp magic through the familiar’s sight.
She could only move to places she could perceive visually, so it was a given.
Her fine hair began to stand up.
Despite the distance between them, I could feel the surrounding temperature slightly drop.
Reacting to Erica’s mana, the environmental factor of temperature was changing.
As expected of Erica.
She had honed her magic to the point where it was hard to recall the level Vargan remembered.
“Quite a high-level freezing magic. Though late, I’ll extend my congratulations.”
Though I knew through the original work, I spoke nonchalantly to observe her reaction.
“Shut up. You didn’t approach me just to chat, did you?”
“I did want to have a conversation.”
“Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for that.”
The mana flow around Erica reversed and surged like waves.
Its intensity and concentration were not to be underestimated.
Though her reaction was amusing, treating her as a joke seemed to devalue her. Objectively speaking, she was strong.
The fourth in the entrance exam rankings.
While entrance exam scores didn’t mean everything, they were quite significant at this early stage of the story.
“Well. If I give you a heads-up, you’ll soon be preparing to flee.”
“Schugenhartz. I’ve watched you for a long time due to our twisted fate, do you think I wouldn’t know?”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ve already consumed a significant amount of mana. Your current state is a bluff. And this means it’s an opportunity for me.”
When Erica raised her hand.
Six ice spears, each about 1 meter long, formed and floated around her.
They were too ornate to be disposable, a characteristic of elemental magic in altered forms.
The higher the level of elemental control, the more elaborate and ornate the altered forms became. Just by those, one could guess Erica’s level. She could probably control them freely.
If this were a martial arts story, it would be akin to a technique where one controlled a sword at will in the air.
“Do you intend to pierce my body with those? Indeed, now might be possible.”
Erica slightly furrowed her brows as if trying to ignore my words.
“Anyway, that black thing in your shadow will come out, won’t it?”
“You took out physical means to see how much you’ve improved?”
Erica let out a somewhat tense laugh.
“Let’s say that’s it.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
I spread my arms, showing that I would properly face her magic.
The ice spears, filled with cold air, began spinning at high speed.
She added rotational force to increase accuracy and power. Indeed, those had been refined.
Step.
The ice spears would soon fly like bees. Without knowing that the figure welcoming her in her sight was an illusion.
Illusion-type curse magic’s success rate increased the greater the skill difference or the more the caster understood the opponent.
For Erica, it could be said that the latter had more influence.
As soon as I saw her, I cast an illusion, buying time through conversation.
I had already sneaked up close to her. Her youthful face was visible up close.
Her gaze was still fixed forward.
Slowly reaching out to touch her.
Though her power and tricks seemed to have grown, you still had a long way to go, Erica.
Failing to properly grasp the situation during a battle showed you hadn’t moved past your previous level—
—There you are?
Suddenly, Erica turned her body sharply, looking directly at <me>.
Before I could even react to her unexpected response.
The ice spears plunged straight in.
This was quite dangerous.
With the sound of piercing the air, the ice spears immediately rained down.
Crrrk.
The ice spears, upon reaching their target, penetrated and froze it.
Cold air seeped out of my mouth.
Due to this attack, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. My body temperature fell, and my hair stood on end from the cold.
“… what are you doing, Schugenhartz?”
Erica seemed dissatisfied.
I didn’t know why she was making such a face. She should be pleased originally.
Erica’s arms were trembling slightly. Not from the cold. Her sharp eyes reflected a sense of humiliation.
“Don’t even need to summon your familiar? Do you think… do you think I’m that easy…?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Then how do you explain the current situation…?”
Erica pointed out my condition.
Even I, with surprising reflexes, managed to dodge her spears barely.
But even with an exceptional body, it was impossible to avoid them without a single scratch.
Ice flowers bloomed on my left shoulder and right thigh. There was no bleeding because Erica’s magic had frozen the wound.
Simply put, her attack had worked to some extent.
“Lowering the surrounding temperature was not wasteful but a countermeasure against me. Frankly, I was surprised. To think you’d use the minute ice particles in the air to locate my position.”
What I cast on her was a certain illusion, not one controlling all her senses.
She knew I’d cast an illusion on her. Thus, she used atmospheric changes as a countermeasure.
She located me by detecting the abnormal melting caused by my body heat.
It was a method never mentioned in the novel, but Erica had thought about it through this time.
“I’m not seeking that kind of praise right now. Answer properly!”
“What do you mean?”
“Why didn’t you summon your familiar? You wouldn’t bleed for such a minor attack!”
Calling it minor was a bit much.
One praised someone, and they belittled themselves. What was with that mindset?
“While I’m glad for your firm belief in your fiancé, I mentioned that you might manage to pierce me now.”
“Don’t skip the middle part and explain properly. I’m really not in a good mood.”
Indeed.
Just by looking, it was clear she was much angrier than before. Not even when I asked her for lunch did she seem this upset.
Since the situation at Class 1’s base had been resolved, telling her wouldn’t change anything.
“I’ve temporarily entrusted it to someone else. Given the class battle, it’s more needed elsewhere, so I had to let it go with tears.”
Finn couldn’t handle Fallon, and it was impossible to stop Fallon’s familiar either.
So, I entrusted my precious familiar to Finn, and it devoured Fallon’s familiar. I assigned Finn the role of protecting it from being eliminated immediately.
Protection… if you could call it that.
I had commanded it to materialize and block only when Finn’s back was attacked, but Finn didn’t provide any opportunities beyond the initial one, so it never showed itself again.
“You lent your familiar to someone…?”
Erica shook her head in disbelief, looking somewhat despondent.
Well, it was not an unreasonable reaction. Dark attribute familiars were especially affectionate towards their master and utterly despise the act of lending themselves to others.
Moreover, the fact that Vargan, who knew nothing but himself and was obsessed with his familiar, would entrust his familiar to someone else, even for his own benefit, might seem more unbelievable to Erica than an illusion spell.
“If I hadn’t, there wouldn’t have been a moment where a spear just grazed my body as you mentioned.”
Faced with clear evidence, Erica fell silent.
There was also the option of giving a separate command to the familiar to not come out, but that was excluded as it would be an irrational and meaningless action.
“…”
“It seems like you’ve finally calmed down a bit.”
Erica acted as if the current situation was absurd, but I felt the same way.
Others were probably fighting tooth and nail, and here we were, having a verbal argument or a marital spat.
I was glad that Erica was making progress, but I wanted to confirm her current situation further.
However, the flow had been completely disrupted. Continuing the battle now seemed contextually strange.
While I was pondering how to react, Erica started moving.
She created another spear.
This time, the spear did not spin.
Instead, she held the spear with her pale, delicate hands as if she didn’t know what cold was.
There was something ominous about it.
“… I see. … alright.”
Erica, with her head lowered, muttered softly. Her thin frame slowly approached. The energy emanating from that small figure was overwhelmingly massive and dark.
With a sinister smile resembling Vargan’s, the villainess closed in.
“It was truly an opportunity.”
Without hesitation, she thrust the spear.