Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 113

Chapter 113: Where is the Hero?

Ahcehera barely dodged as a massive spike of ice shot up from the ground, narrowly missing her shoulder.

The Ice Guardian had emerged, a towering, armored figure of shimmering frost, its hollow eyes glowing an unnatural color.

It raised its crystalline spear and lunged.

Ahcehera had no choice. She summoned Syverian, her mecha, and activated its flight mode.

The thrusters roared to life, and in an instant, she shot into the sky, barely evading another ice spear that shattered against the academy’s frozen barrier.

The magical seal around the school pulsed ominously, reacting to her presence. As she ascended, her gaze fell upon the academy’s lake, now completely frozen over.

Yet, despite the ice sealing it shut, dark energy still leaked from beneath the surface. Her heart clenched. Something was sealed in that lake. Something dangerous.

But now was not the time to investigate. She gritted her teeth, shifted Syverian’s course, and flew toward the suburbs of Agartha, where her private villa stood.

It was the safest place for her to figure out what was happening. The moment she arrived, she stormed inside and activated her communication line.

Ahcehera called Richard the second time around. “Richard, have you seen Richmond?” she asked immediately.

Richard’s voice came through, calm but slightly unconcerned.

“No. I was about to ask you the same thing. He was in Agartha when the lockdown happened. There’s no record of him leaving.”

Ahcehera felt an uneasy chill spread through her chest.

Richmond was powerful. As a major general, he could protect himself. But why was there no trace of him?

Her fingers clenched around her optical brain as she quickly attempted to contact him with another optical brain.

No response.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

“He’s not answering,” she muttered, feeling her unease grow.

Richard was silent for a moment before he spoke. “That’s unusual. Even in crises, he always keeps his communicator on.”

Ahcehera’s stomach twisted.

Something was wrong.

“I’m going to find him,” she declared.

“Wait…” Richard started, but she had already ended the call.

Richmond might be reckless, but he wouldn’t just disappear.

And with the academy frozen over, the lake exuding dark energy, and the base in complete disarray, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somehow involved in all of this.

She immediately prepared for search and retrieval, equipping herself with her plasma rifle and scanning the city for any remaining surveillance feeds.

But as she scrolled through the data, she found nothing.

It was as if Richmond had vanished into thin air.

Ahcehera stepped into her private space, Cresencia. I need to check on her…

It was a space of calm, a place where she could retreat from the chaos of the outside world. But today, as she entered, her senses were immediately on high alert. Something was wrong.

She walked through the familiar corridors of Cresencia, her footsteps echoing softly. The air felt colder, more distant than usual.

Her heart began to race as she made her way to the holding cell where Khaterine, the imprisoned woman she had kept here for so long, was supposed to be.

Khaterine had been a powerful figure, someone who held key knowledge that Ahcehera had intended to use to navigate the rapidly changing events surrounding the galaxy and its consequences.

But when Ahcehera reached the cell, her breath caught in her throat. The cell was empty.

The metallic bars were undisturbed, and there was no sign of struggle. The seal that had been placed to keep Khaterine confined was still intact, but the woman herself was gone.

Ahcehera’s mind raced. This couldn’t be possible.

Khaterine had been locked away, bound by a powerful magical seal that not even the strongest magic could break without causing major disturbances.

Ahcehera’s first thought was that someone had freed her, but who? And why?

She reached out with her senses, trying to feel for any trace of Khaterine’s energy, but all she could detect was an unsettling emptiness.

The absence of Khaterine’s presence was almost suffocating, like a wound in the fabric of reality itself.

As she stood there, her mind raced, piecing together the fragmented thoughts and concerns that had been building over the last few weeks.

The world around her was starting to unravel, the threads of the original timeline slipping away.

She had tried to control the future, to shape the path ahead, but now it seemed as though the forces at work were far beyond her comprehension.

The Nether Fire, the disappearance of Richmond, the changes in the lives of Carmela and Abrixien, everything had been spiraling out of control.

And now Khaterine’s escape, along with the strange shifts she had sensed in Cresencia, only confirmed her worst fears, this was no longer just a series of events that could be manipulated.

This was a calamity, a force that was working against her, and it was something she might not be able to stop. She took a deep breath, pushing the rising panic down.

The only thing she could be sure of now was that the path ahead was far more dangerous than she had anticipated.

If Khaterine had escaped, if she was somehow involved in these events, then she would have to be found before everything descended into chaos.

Ahcehera turned away from the empty cell, a sense of urgency building within her chest. She needed answers, and she needed them fast.

But there was another matter that she couldn’t ignore, the disappearance of Richmond. It wasn’t just a small concern, it was a sign that something far greater was at play.

The connection between the Nether Fire and the shifting fates of everyone involved was undeniable.

If the story had deviated so much, then it meant the original plot was no longer a reliable guide. She could no longer rely on the predictable outcomes. The rules had changed.

She stepped out of Cresencia and back into the physical world, her mind set on finding Richmond.

But as she returned to the outside world, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the calamity wasn’t just affecting her. It was spreading.

Each deviation, each lost soul, was creating a ripple in the fabric of reality itself.

Ahcehera hurried to her personal quarters, her thoughts consumed by the missing pieces of the puzzle.

She knew that finding Richmond and Khaterine was now her top priority, but how could she possibly track them down when the very world around her seemed to be slipping into unpredictability?