"You..." he paused, looking at her with suspicion. "You promised a free reading if I trained you."
"Yeah? Hit it."
He leaned forward, clearly curious. "What do you see with and Evelyn in the future?"
[Event Alert: Elimination Event Activated.]
[True Villainess Arc Begins.]
[Objective: Lie to Raphael to start severing all contact with Evelyn.]
[Failure to comply will trigger consequences.]
[Ti: 1 Minute]
’An elimination event?’
To Verena, who wasn’t exactly a fan of following the rules, this was an especially bitter pill to swallow.
She hated lying for petty things like these.
It wasn’t just so harmless fib. This was her being pushed into a corner, forced to deceive.
Sure, the man in front of her was a walking red flag. He deserved this, right? They were ant to be separated. She could lie. She had to lie. This was the first step in her villainess arc.
But that didn’t make it easier.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[New chanic Unlocked: Buff Application!]
[In these monts, your true villainess arc begins. As you sever ties and deceive, you are granted temporary buffs to aid in your manipulation and survival.]
She finally got a buff chanic, but of course, it was only for eliminating the male leads?
Seriously?
This was harsh and rciless.
It wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped for when she imagined her rise to power.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[New Points chanic Unlocked: Descent Points (DP)]
[The more you manipulate, deceive, and sever ties, the more your Descent Points will rise.]
[Descent Points can be used in the Buff Store inside the System.]
You know what? Fine. I’m used to this anyway. The HR Departnt has always been the villain to the employee’s!
Then, she turned to Raphael with a sharp look. "Don’t even think about it," she warned. "I know you’re the persistent type, but trust , you’ll only be bored. It’s better if you just... move on."
[You have gained your first Descent Points (DP)!]
[ 5 Descent Points]
Ah, well, that was official now.
She was getting points for being a manipulative mastermind.
Could this get any more ridiculous?
The thing with Raphael was, his emotions were a ss.
He’d be all moody and bored one mont, and the next, he’d be playing around with Evelyn like so kind of love-struck fool, despite the fact that he loved her.
The whole thing was a train wreck waiting to happen.
She sauntered up to him, casual, yet calculated.
"You know, you really ought to be careful who you tie yourself to," she teased, her voice sweet with just the right amount of venom. "People like Evelyn... well, they’re a distraction. You deserve more than that, don’t you think?" [ 5 Descent Points]
"More?"
"You’re not the type to wait around, are you?" she continued, voice low but firm. "You’ve got potential. Real potential. You just need soone who actually sees that. Soone who won’t hold you back." [ 5 Descent Points]
"You’re just trying to push away from her."
Ah, she’d forgotten he was smart. Unfortunate.
"For good reason," Verena said, not even bothering to deny it.
"There is no way I’ll do that," Raphael shot back, his grip tightening on his sword. "I told you to give a proper reading. Not this nonsense."
"And I did," she said, feigning exasperation. "Why do people always whine when I tell the truth?" [ 5 Descent Points]
Because the truth was simple: they were screwed.
Raphael’s jaw clenched, his eyes dark with frustration. "Let’s duel once again," he declared. "I lost last ti."
Oho? He was pissed.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[You have gained a Buff: Insight]
[Effects: Seeing Two Seconds Into The Future.]
Two seconds into the future? That was it?
Wow, so generous...
"Fine," she said, rolling her shoulders. "If I win, that ans I’ve made my point—I am telling the truth."
Raphael smirked. "And if you lose?"
"Then I lose. But at least I’ll have fun wasting your ti."
The mont Raphael moved, Verena saw it.
just two seconds ahead.
His sword ca in fast, a blur of steel aiming straight for her shoulder.
But her buff kicked in, and for a brief mont, she saw the future version of herself barely dodging it.
"Oh, hell no—"
She twisted, narrowly missing the strike.
Except, because she wasn’t physically as fast as she was ntally seeing things, she ended up stumbling like an idiot.
"Crap—"
Raphael wasted no ti, swinging again.
Verena saw herself failing to block and getting knocked flat on her ass.
"Not happening!"
She forced her body to react faster, raising her blade at the last second.
Sparks flew as steel clashed against steel, the force rattling her arms.
"Okay, okay, this is kinda cool—"
But Raphael was relentless.
His movents were smooth, precise, annoyingly experienced.
Her two-second foresight helped her see his next attack, but her body was still playing catch-up.
She dodged just in ti only to trip over her own foot.
"GAH—!"
With a yelp, she barely managed to roll away before his sword could graze her.
Raphael sighed. "You do realize that seeing the future doesn’t an much if you can’t keep up with it, right?"
"Shut up," Verena snapped, scrambling to her feet.
She was getting better at reacting, though.
After a few more exchanges, she wasn’t just dodging blindly.
she was predicting how to move, when to counter.
The two-second buff wasn’t useless, it just needed better execution.
Her next move was a perfectly tid sidestep.
The issue was that she stepped directly into a wall.
Thunk!
"...Did you just predict your own death?"
She groaned, forehead still pressed against the stone. "Shut. Up."
Needless to say, she lost.
But hey, at least she was learning.
"I still proved my point. I was faster this ti, wasn’t I?"
Raphael frowned but didn’t deny it.
"It’s because I can truly see," she continued, voice lowering just enough to sound almost... knowing. "I don’t just guess the future. I know it. And you felt it, didn’t you? That split second where I moved before you even thought I could?"
Raphael’s grip on his sword tightened. Hook, line, and sinker.
"You think I’m pushing you away for fun? No, no, I’m helping you. Because if you keep going down this path." [ 10 Descents Points]
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