Villain's Odyssey: Enslaving heroines, Conquering Villainesses Chapter 6: Cold is Reality

Splash!

"Haa... haaa... haaaa..."

The young man’s eyes snapped open as icy water seeped into his bones. He blinked hard.

"Rise and shine," a voice cooed from sowhere above.

His vision was hazy, not just from sleep, but perhaps from the excessive blood loss. He couldn’t tell what exactly was blurring his sight—it all blended together into a nauseating swirl of confusion.

"Haaah... haaah... Who are—"

His lips parted, the question forming—but before the words could escape, sothing slamd into his face with the force of a sledgehamr.

"Ugh—cough... cough!" Blood sprayed from his mouth, the sheer violence of the impact leaving him stunned. For a mont, he felt as if he’d glimpsed death—then was yanked violently back into life.

Ether.

The realization ca instantly.

That hit—it was laced with ether.

The girl had coated her fist with it to deliver such a devastating blow.

Spit.

He hawked up a mix of blood and saliva, letting it hit the floor.

"What... do you want from ?" he croaked, still bold enough to speak—even now.

BAM!

Another crushing blow landed, and he felt it coming.

"You don’t get to ask questions. I do," ca that sa cold voice.

His head dropped. His thoughts spun.

"Tell your accomplices’ nas. Based on my research, you’re barely competent in Magictect. Just a middling alchemist. So there’s no way you breached the forcefield alone. Who are you working for? This is your one chance at a painless death. Stretch this out, and you’ll beg for death—and not even get it."

The voice sliced like ice.

Azalea sighed.

A lie.

A big one.

He already knew who was speaking. He had pieced it together quickly—Class 2B’s Annabella Kira von Estellia. One of the top students in the combat mage departnt. And soone he knew far too well.

She had an unhealthy obsession with Auston.

She wasn’t alone—others did too—but that didn’t make this situation any better.

She would torture him.

Whether or not he talked.

The promise of release? Empty. A ploy to loosen his tongue.

He...

Was in for a long night.

Sobs.

BAM!

It hurt.

Gods, it hurt.

He couldn’t move.

Couldn’t shield himself.

"F-Fuck..." Blood dribbled from his lips as a fresh cough wracked his fra.

"It seems you prefer the hard way," she said flatly—no trace of emotion.

"Just kill ," he whispered, his head low. "You’re wasting your ti. I don’t even know who triggered the system bridge."

He rembered this part from the ga.

The third arc of the first ga.

The final exam of the second year.

But this ti, it wasn’t a simulation.

Students were sent to a real-world location—a kingdom outside Ezram, but still part of its territory. It paid taxes, after all. A sudden surge of mountain Corels had ravaged the town—nasty creatures that attacked in swarms and fed on secondary ether.

The academy isolated the area with a forcefield—ant to keep other ether beasts out—and sent students in to clear the Corels. At first, it was manageable. But then, soone breached the forcefield. High-tier ether beasts poured in.

That’s when the real carnage began.

But in the ga... no one ever found out who did it. At least, not in the parts he played.

So he truly didn’t know.

All of this... had happened in-ga too.

Only now, things were different.

Because Azalea—he—had actually done it.

Out of jealousy... or had he?

"I see," the voice said.

Then ca the sharp click of heels.

He raised his head. His vision was still foggy, but he caught a silhouette—a tall hat. Long pink hair cascading in waves. She placed a small box on a nearby desk.

She opened it.

His body instinctively recoiled.

"As an alchemist..." Her blue eyes t his. Cold. Calculating. "You must know what happens when random, highly toxic substances are ingested, yes?"

Pain.

Only pain.

"I swear I don’t know!" he scread, the panic now fully rooted in his bones.

"And yet, it was you who put Auston in his current condition—fighting for his life," she murmured sweetly.

That sweetness chilled him more than her blows.

"I... Haah... Please... Damn it... Damn it!" She smiled and began picking chemicals from the box. Randomly, to her.

But not to him.

He had studied alchemy since childhood.

He knew what those substances were.

Kasper’s Dew. Morsperge.

A deadly combination.

"For the last ti," she said, eyes narrowing. "Who sent you?"

Clarity surged back into him—his body finally recognizing the severity of this mont.

Those blue eyes—rciless and cruel—locked on him.

"I... F-Fuck—sob—fuck..."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And so it began.

Tornt.

True tornt.