The Villain Bought the Female Lead - Ch. 46
Between spaces.
A space of nothingness and illusions.
Traveling through a warp happened so quickly that there was no time to even sense the space.
However, at this moment, Erica’s mind was processing an overwhelming amount of information, filling that vast space completely.
What have you done this time, Schugenhartz!
Erica barely managed to avoid Vargan’s fierce attack by using warp magic.
In truth, she wanted to engage in a fierce battle with him, regardless of the class battle. Calling it a <battle> might be inaccurate. She simply wanted to beat him up mercilessly.
She wanted to make his slick face so grotesque that he would never walk around with it again.
So that he could never smile arrogantly again.
But no matter how much humiliation and anger she felt, she wasn’t ignorant of reality.
He was strong.
Maybe it was because the genius, who seemed to have washed away the word <effort> like an impurity with soap, had renewed his determination.
His magical power had grown significantly.
It had been about a year since Erica and Vargan last met. When they met as representatives of their families, they had the opportunity to gauge each other’s growth. Compared to the amount of mana he showed back then, it was now embarrassingly large.
Surely, he must have poured a massive amount of mana to control the monsters.
After taking up the mace, he started drawing out mana freely with an unfazed demeanor.
As if he had just been playing around until now.
So frustrating, so frustrating, so frustrating…!!
In the void space, her body wasn’t maintaining its form.
Erica stomped her feet on the imaginary ground.
She wasn’t sure where he was getting such a vast amount of mana, but it was clear that he was quite exhausted.
If only the reinforcements she had requested from the nearby Class 5 had arrived—at least three, no, even two would have been enough—they might have captured him.
It would have surely been an opportunity that wouldn’t come again.
Reality presented itself differently to Erica.
⎯”Erica, pull yourself together. No matter how long you wait, reinforcements aren’t coming.”
His mocking tone naturally brought back her pent-up anger.
Vargan, as if reading her mind and pinpointing her concerns, spoke in the midst of their battle.
⎯”Are you okay with this? If reinforcements aren’t coming, it means they can’t send any.”
As frustrating as it was, his words were likely true.
She had accurately conveyed her location and purpose to Diphelia.
It wasn’t that the number of reinforcements was overwhelming. If that were the case, they would have taken longer but still contacted the Class 4 base where Erica belonged.
The fact that no one came could mean they were unable to communicate or something beyond that had occurred.
Because of this, Erica was heading to the Class 5 base instead of Class 4.
Warp magic consumed less mana and allowed for quick movement if the destination was within a clear view and nearby.
However, Erica had used a significant amount of mana in her fight with Vargan, and geographically, the Class 5 base was closer than Class 4. She used this as a pretext, trying to ignore her concern for Diphelia.
Once she calmed her troubled mind to some extent.
⎯Zing.
The warp completed.
The strange feeling of passing through the void space disappeared, and her body, which had been split into millions of tiny particles, reformed correctly.
Exactly the same point as seen from Diphelia’s familiar before.
Even with warp magic that allowed for arbitrary spatial movement, she couldn’t move to a location she hadn’t visually identified.
The feeling of relief.
Before the air could circulate around her body.
Erica, with her senses heightened, quickly tried to grasp the situation.
Sharp spear points that seemed ready to pierce her.
Glaring eyes from all directions belonged to the owners of those spears.
At a slight distance, a girl sat in a wheeled chair with a sorrowful expression.
Her eyes were closed, but it seemed as though her pupils were trembling.
“Diphelia. What is this about?”
The saint’s group had surrounded Erica.
Clearly with hostility.
“Erica… why… why did you come here?”
“Because the most reliable way to contact was—”
“—I left you my familiar! Even if you had warped to the 4th division base, there was a way to contact me, so why… why!”
Diphelia kept murmuring the word <why>.
Unlike the others, she didn’t express anger towards Erica. Instead, Diphelia’s bewilderment stabbed at her own heart.
“Why… did you come here… Erica.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t come.
Erica read the implication behind her words.
The wooden furniture around Diphelia started to transform. Those things, swelling like a sponge soaked in water, writhed like living creatures.
A small bird perched on Diphelia’s shoulder chirped. Though there was no visual connection, its voice reached Erica’s ears.
Diphelia’s communication network was intact.
⎯”Diphelia! As I mentioned, we should abandon the defense of the second intermediate base! There are too many people in Class 1!”
The second intermediate base?
Not the first intermediate base?
Despite the static, she clearly heard it.
Something was off.
The allied forces were targeting the first intermediate base occupied by Class 1.
The second intermediate base was the point where Class 5 had planted their flag, and it was mostly composed of Class 5 students…
‘Ah.’
Her puzzlement was forcibly resolved.
Like a lightning bolt, a certain individual’s face flashed in her mind.
Simultaneously, her current predicament and his actions overlapped.
There were missing pieces in the puzzle, but she could see the overall picture.
Indeed, she—
Warped to this place—
‘Schugenhartz…!’
She hadn’t chosen to come here; she was <guided> here. Because she came here, Vargan’s desired scenario was complete.
“Erica… Class 1, having succeeded in defending, immediately ran to the second intermediate base… as if they knew its location….”
The transformed wooden structures extended their tendrils.
They soon began to envelop the space around Erica.
“Why… is that?”
Contrary to Diphelia’s sorrowful tone, which wished to believe in Erica till the end.
The bent tree branch savagely enveloped Erica from all sides.
***
-“Caw, caw!”
“You don’t have to be so coy. I’ll pet you anyway, such an affectionate little thing.”
As I stroked the crow familiar that Erica had left behind (?), the black creature rubbed its face against me, seemingly pleased.
It closed its eyes in bliss, pressing its glossy body against me.
So cute.
So much so that I almost want to take it back from Erica.
If its owner would neglect such a lovely familiar, it wouldn’t be so bad if it was abandoned.
Couldn’t I take it?
Barely restraining my urge to snatch it away, we finally reached our destination.
The allure of familiars was something else…
“Master, we’ve secured the second intermediate base.”
The first to greet me was Alicia. She ran over and began reporting the situation.
She quantified the number of those knocked out and the extent of the damage.
“… therefore, we can consider the current strength of Class 1 to be about 80% of its original.”
“That’s sufficient.”
It was a satisfactory result.
Although some were exhausted, even considering such factors, we could still say we were faring better compared to the chaos in Class 4 and 5.
We just need to charge in during their confusion.
“……”
Alicia looked up at me intently.
She seemed deep in thought but didn’t appear to have anything specific to say.
“What is it?”
“Oh, I apologize. It just feels like it’s been a while… no, I was just making sure it was really you and not Naias mimicking you. I apologize for my insolence.”
“If it were that guy, he would have returned to the sword. I cut off the mana supply.”
He had already finished his work, so there was no need to let him benefit any longer.
Besides, the distance was increasing, requiring more mana.
“Master, I haven’t heard about our next steps. What’s the plan? I think I can follow your intentions a bit more… just a bit.”
“Oh, it’s unusual for you to show such confidence.”
Had she gained this from opening her eyes to a new level of illusion and aura?
It seemed she had come to evaluate herself more highly.
Well, considering how low it was before, it was only normal it would increase.
“Um… well…”
Alicia’s voice suddenly became faint, almost inaudible.
“I felt like Master has acknowledged me…”
Hmm?
Was she talking about when I communicated through the twin owl familiars? I didn’t say much besides <well done>.
“Haven’t I always acknowledged you? Calling you a mad genius was the highest praise I could give.”
“Oh, that’s right! You’ve always affirmed me. I’m very grateful for that. But… this time it felt a bit different…”
“A different feeling?”
“No, it’s nothing! Just some idle thoughts, you can forget it!”
Alicia hurriedly ended her awkward words.
If I touched her blushing cheeks, they would probably be as hot as a boiling kettle.
Well, anyway.
Regarding the next steps.
“There are none.”
“Showing such an embarrassing side… wait, there aren’t?”
“Right, we’ve done everything. Only one thing remains.”
“And that is…”
“All-out war.”
We had reduced the enemy forces as much as possible.
Meanwhile, we had conserved enough strength to sprint at full power. Even though we’d already put on quite a show for the audience through the class battle, it wouldn’t hurt to end things grandly.
“Let’s give even the most ignorant people chills.”
As the saying went, the more you knew, the more you saw. Only a few in the audience would grasp the full meaning of all my actions this time.
Let’s go out with a bang.
Something so grand they couldn’t take it all in at once.
“Plum, prepare the visual magic.”
“Ah, ah, yes! I’ll get ready right away!”
Despite not calling loudly, the disheveled man, Plum, quickly began preparing the spell.
He was the one who helped set up the video magic when the class battle started.
“Alicia, remember the New Student Council?”
“Yes, the study group you formed.”
“From now on, its name will change.”
“A new name…”
The <New Student Council> was just a front to draw attention, nothing more, nothing less.
I didn’t intend to elevate the Student Council, nor did I plan to oppose them. To be precise, there was no need to.
There were other important things to focus on than dealing with the Student Council.
I’d rather spend that time recruiting another talent.
The atmosphere had ripened.
The final showdown was upon us.
If there was a time to announce it, it was now.
Let’s firmly plant our flag in this fertile land.
Plum quickly finished preparing the visual magic and sent the orb floating towards me.
Having loosened up with my conversation with Alicia, I didn’t need any further preparation.
[This is a declaration of war. Erica, Diphelia.]
All members of Class 1, who had been on standby, gripped their respective weapons tightly.
The swordsmen grasped their swords.
The magicians held their accessories.
The archers grabbed their bows.
Each of them, holding their now familiar weapons.
[Let’s bring this to an end.]
Pouring all their strength into them.