Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: The New Villainess
The rain had slowed to a drizzle as Richard, Ahcehera, and Richmond moved swiftly through the desolate forest.

Their breaths were heavy, and their footsteps barely made a sound on the damp earth. The crimson glow that had painted the sky was gone, replaced by a thick, oppressive darkness.

Every crack of a branch or whisper of wind made them flinch. They knew they couldn’t stay here.

Not when Zephyrion’s influence still loomed over Agartha like a shadowy predator waiting to strike again.

They reached an abandoned outpost near the old riverbed, a place once used by Agartha’s reconnaissance teams.

The structure was half-collapsed, vines crawling up its rusted walls, but it still had four walls and a roof. The three of them slipped inside, barring the entrance with a dented metal beam.

Ahcehera sat against the wall, her sword resting beside her. Her injured arm throbbed, and dried blood crusted along the wound.

Richard knelt next to her, conjuring faint Nether Fire to provide warmth and light. Across from them, Richmond sat with his back against a crate, eyes hollow and distant.

“All right,” Ahcehera said after catching her breath. “We need answers. Richmond… what happened to you?”

Richard’s gaze sharpened, focusing on his brother. He hadn’t seen Richmond in weeks, and now here he was, alive but irrevocably changed.

The violet glow lingering in his eyes and the unnatural aura of death around him were impossible to ignore.

Richmond exhaled shakily, his fingers tracing the chain scars on his wrists. “I was captured,” he began, voice low and raw.

“After the academy was sealed, I stayed behind to investigate the lake. I knew something was off with the dark energy leaking from beneath it. Before I could dig deeper, Zephyrion’s forces ambushed me.”

Ahcehera exchanged a quick glance with Richard. “We never detected enemy activity that close to the academy.”

“Because they didn’t come through conventional means,” Richmond said.

“The portal in the forest… it wasn’t entirely destroyed. Zephyrion used it to send shadows. They overwhelmed me before I could even draw my weapon.”

He paused, jaw tightening. “I was taken to Devetrinthon.”

The name sent a shiver through the room. Devetrinthon, Zephyrion’s domain, the planet of death and decay. Few spoke of it without fear.

Richard’s fists clenched. “That place should’ve been sealed off centuries ago.”

“It was,” Richmond said, eyes gleaming with cold exhaustion. “But Zephyrion found a way to reopen it. He needed more than dark matter. He needed a vessel.”

He looked down at his hands. “And he thought I could be that vessel.”

Ahcehera’s heart twisted. “He tortured you, didn’t he?”

Richmond gave a bitter laugh.

“Days blurred into nights. Time didn’t exist in that place. He broke my bones, and tore through my mind with his magic. Every scream, every moment of agony, fed the death essence surrounding me.”

“I thought I’d die, but I didn’t. The more I suffered, the more the energy responded to me. Zephyrion realized that and tried to siphon the power away.”

Richard ran a hand through his hair, eyes furious. “That monster… And Khaterine? She was there too?”

“Yes,” Richmond whispered. His expression darkened.

“She was locked in a tower. At first, I didn’t know why she was there. Zephyrion seemed fascinated with her. He called her his ‘key.’ I tried to reach her, but the guards were too strong. Eventually, he moved her to his laboratory.”

Ahcehera’s grip on her sword tightened. “Why her? What does she have to do with this?”

“I don’t know,” Richmond admitted. “But she didn’t remember me at first. Zephyrion used memory-manipulation spells on her. He wanted her to forget her past and embrace him.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Outside, the wind howled softly through the trees.

Richard broke the silence. “Zephyrion doesn’t act without purpose. If he’s manipulating Khaterine, she’s more important to his plans than we realize.”

“Which means we need to get her out of there,” Ahcehera said firmly.

Richmond nodded, his eyes burning with quiet resolve.

“Exactly. But we can’t storm Devetrinthon without a plan. The dark energy there will sap our strength. I only escaped because the death essence had already bonded with me. I can move through it, but you two will struggle.”

Richard thought for a moment. “If we can disrupt Zephyrion’s link to the death core, we might weaken him enough to infiltrate his stronghold.”

Ahcehera rubbed her temples. “That core we destroyed earlier, it was just a conduit, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Richmond confirmed.

“The main core is beneath his fortress on Devetrinthon. It’s shielded, but if we get close enough, I might be able to overload it with the death energy he’s been trying to harness.”

The three of them sat in contemplation, the weight of their mission pressing down like a vice. They were planning to attack the heart of darkness itself.

Meanwhile, far away, within the shadowed halls of Zephyrion’s laboratory, Khaterine was enduring torment beyond comprehension.

She lay strapped to a stone table, her wrists and ankles shackled with glowing black chains. Potions bubbled in glass containers lining the walls.

The air was thick with the metallic tang of magic and the sharp sting of burning herbs.

Zephyrion stood beside her, a cold smile on his pale lips. His eyes glimmered with dark amusement.

“You have such resilient blood, little darling,” he said, swirling a vial of crimson liquid. “The traces of ancient power run through your veins, even if you don’t know it.”

Khaterine’s vision blurred. Pain radiated through her body with every breath. Her memories were fragmented, faces she couldn’t place, moments that felt both familiar and foreign.

“Why… me?” she croaked.

Zephyrion chuckled. “Because you, my dear, are the missing piece. You are the vessel of life amid death, the spark that will ignite my dominion over all living realms. Your soul was never meant for this world, yet here you are. A cosmic anomaly.”

Khaterine squeezed her eyes shut. Richmond’s face flashed in her mind, a fleeting memory she couldn’t fully grasp.

“Ah,” Zephyrion said softly. “You remember him, don’t you? Richmond.”

He spat the name like poison. “He defied me, and now he is no more. But don’t worry. Soon, you’ll forget him entirely.”

He pressed a cold hand to her forehead. Dark energy slithered into her mind, twisting her memories like threads unraveling from a tapestry.

Khaterine screamed, her voice echoing through the laboratory as her mind shattered piece by piece.

In the forest, Richmond suddenly sat upright, eyes wide with panic.

“Khaterine,” he whispered.

Ahcehera and Richard froze.

“She’s in danger,” Richmond said, voice trembling. “He’s breaking her mind.”

Ahcehera stood, gripping her sword. “Then we leave now.”

The three of them prepared for the journey ahead, knowing that the battle for Khaterine’s soul, and the survival of their world, had only just begun.