Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses-Chapter 86: Conflict

BOOOM!

The explosion shattered the evening quiet as a massive blade of wind collided and combusted with a shield of ice, sending crystalline fragments and air pressure waves rippling around.

"Maria," Carmella breathed, having just returned from the disciplinary office where she’d been sanctioned for her earlier actions. She’d taken a shortcut around the building used for physical training and the one where second years had their Alchemy practical classes, when she suddenly found herself ambushed.

Maria stood twenty feet away, her usually neat white hair now wild and disheveled, falling in thick waves past her shoulders. Her almond eyes, normally bright and determined, now burned with something far more dangerous. She wore her standard academy uniform - a fitted dark blue jacket that hugged her curves, the white shirt beneath slightly torn at the collar from whatever confrontation had preceded this moment. Her pleated skirt swayed as she shifted into an aggressive stance.

Carmella quickly jumped back and took a defensive position, her hands instinctively going for her bow. It wasn’t because of fear. No, it was because of what she sensed clearly in Maria’s eyes: madness. Pure, undiluted madness. The girl was emitting such a great deal of bloodlust that it was only a matter of time before the authorities arrived, and this... this didn’t make any sense to Carmella.

Why was this girl so mad about it? It wasn’t her business in the very least. Had she changed targets from Ansley to that Asher guy? That thought alone was building something up in her, that grudge she’d originally held for Maria slowly turning into genuine hate.

She’d always resented Maria, thought she was lucky to be engaged to Azalea. If it were her in Maria’s place, she would have had more right to act. If Azalea couldn’t get over his obsession with Isa, Carmella could have used more aggressive methods to keep him away from that woman. With time, the young man would no longer be able to approach Isa, whether out of fear or exhaustion from the repercussions his approaching her would bring. After all, Carmella was far stronger than him. She could have slowly changed her approach to something more gentle, and with time, Azalea would have forgotten Isa entirely. It just needed the right methods.

Yes, that was what she believed, and that was why she’d come to hate Maria. The girl had an opportunity to be engaged to someone so rare, someone genuinely kind-hearted and lovable - unlike Ansley, who wouldn’t let her rest. But Maria couldn’t see it, blinded by the outward appearance Azalea always kept, never really looking deeper.

Carmella had been the one forcing Maria most of the time to go look after Azalea when he sustained heavy injuries from fights. Few of his injuries were from Alchemy-related accidents - it was mostly him fighting back against guys who insulted Isa or someone close to him, and being floored every single goddamn time. Eventually, she’d hated seeing him that way, so she’d gone ahead and traumatized most of the weakling shits who started trouble, giving Maria the middle finger as she became more aggressive in her quest to win Azalea for herself.

But it had been too late. Before she could really tell him the words in her heart... the incident had happened.

"You almost killed him, you know that? YOU ALMOST KILLED HIM, YOU BITCH!" Maria screamed in rage.

Carmella felt something was wrong and immediately guessed what Maria was about to do. The moment she realized it, she gave herself a lot of distance, and in the next instant—

SRUSH!

A huge cocoon of air, now visible because of its intensity, appeared exactly where she had been standing. ’She’s trying to suffocate me,’ Carmella noted, guessing that the area within the wind had no oxygen. It seemed Maria was just that desperate to kill her... which was still weird. Why was she this desperate? It didn’t make sense at all.

"So what if I did?" Carmella asked, noting how Maria’s eyes darkened further. "Judging from what you said, he survived... I should have aimed for the head."

Maria snapped completely. In an instant, the air solidified around Carmella and her movement slowed down considerably. But she didn’t let it shake her - she instantly spread her ether around herself, her bow already out and her quiver in place. They were in quite an isolated area, mostly used during class sessions, and given it was already approaching curfew, most students were back in the dorms or headed there now. Even the staff wouldn’t all be available.

Suddenly her eyes widened and she tilted her neck just a little to the left. Something soft touched her neck.

Drip.

She touched it. A sticky, warm liquid. Blood.

"Heh... it seems you’re really mad," she said. In the next instant, she stomped the ground and the area before her began to freeze. She rushed forward and slid on the ice as it extended its range, approaching Maria, who was likewise rushing toward her.

Suddenly a huge pillar of ice manifested before her. She jumped on it, pulled four arrows from her quiver, and shot at Maria, who was too close to dodge easily. But Maria wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Instead, she pushed her arms forward and a huge gust of wind threw the arrows off course. Maria wasn’t stupid enough to think Carmella wasn’t counting on that, so she quickly ducked just in time as an ice dagger sped past her neck, then gave a sweeping kick while still at ground level.

Carmella jumped to avoid it, but while airborne, Maria thrust her left arm forward like she was throwing a javelin. Sure enough, a spear of wind so sharp it appeared green due to its condensed form shot forward at a deafening speed.

Carmella’s eyes widened in shock. She crossed her arms and channeled as much ether as possible, instantly hardening her forearms with ice.

BOOOM! PUUUUUUM!

Even with the shield, she was still shot back and collided with the wall. She gritted her teeth and pulled out her bow once more, just as she sighted Maria with a wind blade only an inch away.

KRINK!

It collided with the edge of the bow, and they gazed at each other’s eyes in mutual anger.

"Now you know how it feels to lose someone you love," Carmella said.

Maria looked at her for a long time, then suddenly stopped and jumped back, which surprised Carmella.

"As much as I don’t like you, I respect what you did for him back then," Maria said, her voice quieter now but still carrying that dangerous edge. "I would have even let you get close to him for it... but now..." She paused, her almond eyes burning with possessive fury. "Stay away from him. He... is mine."

She began walking away.

"What?" Carmella didn’t understand.

Maria stopped and turned back, her beautiful face now cold and determined. "Stay away from Asher, or I swear the next time... I will kill you, consequences be damned."

And Carmella’s eyes widened, now that she thought about it... those words he said, that name he called... he couldn’t possibly be...