I'm in Love with the Villainess!

"Everyone, fall back—!"

The High Inquisitor’s shout came a heartbeat too late.

[Abyssal Lance]

Two inquisitors were already dead.

SPLAT!

"Huh. Didn’t think something this low-tier would kill two of you."

Evelina smirked. A spear of pure darkness flowed into her hand, its shaft stretching down into the shadows pooling at her feet and crawling up around her like smoke. This wasn’t how she usually fought.

But after training under Cael once, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to try his style. Besides, she wanted to be ready the next time he pushed her to her limits.

Two inquisitors rushed her at once.

CLANG!

CLANG!

Steel crashed against her spear as she spun it in a tight arc, knocking aside a blade on her left and a thrust from her right. She was just about to counter when the High Inquisitor blurred forward, his robes whipping in the air.

BANG!

His boot slammed into her spear’s center. Evelina twisted it at the last second, absorbing most of the impact, but the force still sent her skidding back. Her heels scraped across the ground until she stopped right at the broken edge of the light sphere’s torn space.

"Three-on-one?" Evelina clicked her tongue. "You know it’s bad manners to gang up on a lady, right?"

She flashed them a mocking smile, then stepped backward and let the shadows swallow her.

"Did she retreat?" one inquisitor muttered, squinting into the dark.

[Umbral Strings]

He never finished the thought.

SPLURT!

His scream tore through the air as his arm flew off his body, spinning once before hitting the ground.

Blood sprayed in a violent arc. He dropped to his knees, clutching the stump and forcing light magic into it, trying to seal the wound.

"M-My lord, please!" he gasped.

The High Inquisitor moved the moment he sensed another surge of magic.

[Umbral Strings]

He flashed in front of the injured man, sword raised. From the darkness ahead, he caught the faintest glint—a hair-thin line slicing toward them.

"Eyes up!" he barked. "She’s using strings—razor-thin!"

The remaining inquisitors widened their eyes, channeling magic to sharpen their vision. Now that they knew what to look for, they could see them: faint, dark lines cutting through the air.

Weapons swung, blades clashed, sparks flew as they intercepted the oncoming strings. The High Inquisitor’s sword carved through one, severing it just before it reached his face.

For a moment, it seemed like the attack had stopped, and he’d actually managed to shield the wounded person behind him.

But...

SLASH!

The inquisitor behind him let out a wet choke and collapsed. His remaining hand hit the floor first, separate from his body. Blood spread quickly in a dark pool beneath him.

He didn’t get back up.

"W-What...?" one of them whispered.

A low chuckle drifted from the shadows.

"Did you really think I’d be stupid enough to attack from only one direction?" Evelina’s voice echoed, amused and cold.

[Umbral Strings]

SLASH!

The sphere shattered the instant the next barrage of strings hit. Darkness rushed in with it, and with that darkness, the High Inquisitor’s grip on Kevin snapped.

Evelina’s magic spread out, wrapping around all of them like a living storm. Inside her domain, everyone was fair game against these two dark mages.

"Shit! Everyone, form a circle! Watch each other’s backs!"

The inquisitors obeyed at once, boots scraping as they staggered away from Kevin, who was still reeling from the loss of the light sphere. They tried to put as much distance between them and him as they could in the smothering dark.

They were no longer in the academy. This was Evelina’s territory now.

[Umbral Strings]

Strings of darkness screamed down at them. Steel rang as their weapons smashed against Evelina’s relentless onslaught. In the chaos, Kevin finally moved—laughing, wild and unhinged—as he threw himself into the attack at her side.

"You should’ve finished me when you had the chance!"

Kevin roared and thrust out his hand, unleashing a volley of [Penumbral Lances]. Spears of shadow tore through the dark, slamming into the inquisitors’ defenses and making it that much harder for them to hold the line.

Then things got worse.

Evelina surged back into view, rising out of the shadow-soaked floor with her spear in hand. She rushed in, weaving through her own strings, Kevin’s lances, and the inquisitors’ desperate strikes as if the battlefield belonged to her alone.

Her first kill came in a blur. She slipped past a guard, the edge of her spear kissing his throat. One sharp slash, a spray of blood—and he dropped without a sound.

Kevin took the next kill. His lance punched straight through an inquisitor’s skull, snapping it back in a spray of bone and blood. A heartbeat later, Evelina claimed another.

It turned into a slaughter.

CLANG!

SLASH!

CLANG!

CLANG!

When the steel finally fell silent, only the High Inquisitor remained—bleeding, staggering, but still stubbornly batting aside Kevin’s lances with what strength he had left.

Evelina’s fingers went still. The invisible strings she commanded flickered and vanished as she stepped forward, eyes locked on her prey. This time, she wanted to end it herself—a clean, head‑on duel.

Well... as clean as it gets when two dark mages are taking turns breaking you.

SLASH!

Evelina burst in, spear already in motion, crashing into the fight. But with two dark mages hammering him from both sides, he’d never really had a chance.

Soon enough, he dropped to his knees.

"H-How did you figure out our plan so fast...?"

The High Inquisitor stared at her, stunned. Yes, his plan had a few gaps—but there was no way she should’ve known about the second strike.

If she’d been ten seconds later, everything would’ve gone perfectly.

So how...? Even the inquisitor she captured had his memories altered. Even if she had some way to read minds, it should’ve taken time...

Unless she had a very—

"Enough thinking."

Evelina clamped a hand around the High Inquisitor’s head, yanking him out of his thoughts. The darkness around them shattered, and in an instant, they were back at the academy, in the very spot where Kevin had first been attacked.

"Now let’s see if you’ve got anything more useful to offer..."