Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 123

Chapter 123: A Sign
The crackling campfire cast flickering shadows across the damp forest floor.

Ahcehera and Richard sat with their backs to a moss-covered boulder, their bodies aching from the battle with the Zergousin.

The air was thick with the pungent scent of scorched earth and lingering dark matter. Despite the exhaustion weighing on their limbs, neither dared to sleep.

Agartha was no longer the thriving, green planet it had once been.

Decay clung to everything, and the shadows felt heavier than usual, as though something unseen watched their every move.

Ahcehera poked the fire with a broken branch. “The soil is dead,” she muttered. “Dark matter has seeped into every inch of this planet.”

Richard nodded, his gaze fixed on the treetops. “We delayed the Zergousin’s spread, but this place…” His voice trailed off. He didn’t need to finish.

The signs were everywhere, brittle tree trunks, leaves reduced to gray ash, and an eerie silence that hung over the land like a suffocating blanket.

They sat in silence for a while until a distant rumble stirred the air. Ahcehera’s hand instinctively moved to her sword. The night sky shimmered with faint streaks of silver.

“Meteor shower,” Richard said, trying to sound casual.

Ahcehera didn’t relax. The streaks intensified, descending in waves until the sky was ablaze with dazzling lights.

Comets trailed green and crimson tails across the heavens, illuminating the desolate forest with an otherworldly glow.

But something was wrong. The meteors were too slow, too synchronized. They didn’t burn out upon entry but instead drifted like ghostly lanterns toward the horizon.

“This isn’t natural,” Ahcehera whispered, rising to her feet. The hair on her arms stood on end. “Meteor showers don’t move like that.”

Richard’s expression darkened as he followed the trajectory of the glowing orbs. “They’re heading west,” he said. “Toward the Dead Basin.”

The Dead Basin was once a sprawling valley of crystal-blue lakes and vibrant flora. Now, it was a hollowed wasteland where shadows pooled like stagnant water.

Ahcehera’s heart raced. She remembered the barrier she’d seen at the academy and the unnatural decay spreading from beneath the lake.

Suddenly, the ground trembled beneath their feet. The fire hissed and died, leaving them in the eerie glow of the sky. In the distance, a low, guttural hum resonated through the earth.

Richard’s face turned pale. “The Dead Basin is activating.”

Ahcehera’s mind raced. “We need to go.”

They packed their gear and sprinted toward the clearing where their hoverboards were hidden.

The hum grew louder with every step. As they mounted their boards, the sky split open.

From the highest point of the meteor shower, a crimson crack snaked across the heavens, expanding until it resembled an enormous, bloodshot eye.

Richard’s knuckles whitened around the handlebars. “I’ve read about this.”

Ahcehera glanced at him. “Read about what?”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

“There’s an old legend… a prophecy, actually. It spoke of a time when dark matter would bleed through the stars. A crimson rift would open the gates of Devetrinthon.”

Ahcehera’s breath caught. “Devetrinthon… Zephyrion’s domain?”

“Yes,” Richard confirmed.

“The prophecy said that when the eye opens, the boundary between the living and the dead would fracture. Corpses would rise, shadows would walk, and the planet would rot from within.”

The forest around them seemed to exhale. A fetid wind swept through the trees. The ground trembled again, and faint cracking sounds echoed from beneath the surface.

“Let’s move,” Ahcehera ordered.

The hoverboards roared to life, and they shot through the forest, dodging twisted branches and fallen trunks.

The hum became a deafening vibration. As they emerged from the tree line, the Dead Basin stretched before them, a vast depression surrounded by jagged cliffs.

At its center, a massive crater pulsed with dark energy. The meteors had fallen here. They hovered above the ground like glowing eggs.

Veins of crimson energy slithered from each orb, burrowing into the soil. The basin reeked of decay. The ground cracked open, revealing skeletal remains half-buried in the mud.

Then the corpses moved.

Hands emerged from the dirt. Hollow-eyed skulls turned toward the sky as though answering a silent call.

Limbs twisted unnaturally as bodies rose from shallow graves. Some were skeletal; others were decomposing, their flesh clinging in blackened patches.

The reanimated figures stumbled forward, driven by an unseen force. Ahcehera’s grip on her sword tightened. “They’re rising. Just like the legend said.”

Richard’s eyes glowed faintly as he summoned the Nether Fire. “The prophecy called them the Harbingers of Devetrinthon. Zephyrion’s army.”

The sky crackled as the crimson eye widened. A beam of dark light shot down, striking the center of the crater.

The ground split open, and from the depths emerged a colossal, horned figure. Its skin was charred black, eyes glowing with molten gold.

The figure raised its arms, and the corpses stiffened in unison.

“Who is that?” Ahcehera asked.

Richard’s voice was strained. “One of Zephyrion’s generals.”

The general’s gaze turned toward them. His lips curled into a macabre smile. “Ahcehera Bloodstone,” he rasped.

His voice seemed to bypass their ears and resonate directly in their skulls. “The Strategist of Andromeda. You shouldn’t have come.”

Ahcehera’s pulse spiked. How did he know her name?

The undead army began to advance. Their eyes glowed with crimson light as they moved with increasing speed.

“Richard!” she shouted.

He raised his hands, sending a wave of Nether Fire across the ground. The blue-black flames incinerated the first wave of corpses, but more surged forward.

The general stood unfazed in the center, watching. Ahcehera activated her sword. Light energy crackled along the blade.

She swung at the incoming horde, carving through the decayed bodies. But for every creature that fell, another emerged from the cracked earth.

“We can’t win here,” Richard panted. “They’re endless.”

Ahcehera’s mind raced. “We need to disrupt the meteor cores. They’re feeding the army.”

Richard nodded. “I’ll cover you.”

She sprinted toward the nearest orb. Dark tendrils lashed at her feet. She jumped, flipping through the air, and brought her sword down on the glowing surface.

Light energy exploded on impact. The orb cracked but didn’t break. The crimson veins pulsed faster.

The general raised a hand. A spear of dark energy formed above his palm, then shot toward her.

“Ahcehera, move!” Richard roared.

She pivoted, but the spear was too fast.

The impact slammed into her side, sending her flying across the basin. Her sword slipped from her grasp.

Pain exploded through her ribs. Darkness edged her vision as she hit the ground.

The general’s voice echoed across the battlefield. “The gates of Devetrinthon have opened. And you… are too late.”

As the crimson eye in the sky widened further, Ahcehera realized the truth. This wasn’t just an invasion. It was an extinction.