Transmigrated as the Villainess Princess - Chapter 252

Chapter 252: This is the Start (2)

The battle raged like a tempest in the heart of the Sirius Interstellar Mall. Even as military reinforcements poured in and drones circled above to contain the breach, the tide of Zergs was relentless. The portal in the sky pulsed with a malevolent rhythm, birthing more horrors every minute, spilling creatures that twisted the laws of nature and science.

Ahcehera’s lungs burned from the effort of maintaining her barrier. Her arms trembled slightly with the strain of compensating for her lost strength, but her eyes never left the upper combat ring, where Eros stood as a lone warrior holding the line.

He was a blur of black and silver, his blade glowing with antimatter runes, striking down monstrosities faster than they could regroup. The hybrid Zerg, a towering abomination of scales, steel, and partial human DNA, shrieked with inhuman rage and lunged. Eros met it head-on.

They clashed like titans. The first blow knocked Eros off his feet, sending him skidding across cracked marble. Blood spattered the ground where he landed. Ahcehera gasped, gripping the railing as her heart stuttered. But Eros rose, shaking the debris from his shoulders and charging again with a war cry. This time, he didn’t hold back.

He used everything. Power pulsed from his body in concentric waves, disrupting the creature’s balance. With a fierce snarl, he leapt into the air and drove his dagger, now crackling with unstable energy, straight through the hybrid’s chest.

The beast convulsed violently. Then, with a screech that rattled glass for blocks, it exploded into a black mist. And the portal above? It trembled. For one brief moment, the rift flickered, then began to collapse inward, as if destabilized by the death of the creature anchoring it.

The remaining Zergs froze, confused, disconnected, and the military seized the opportunity, mopping up the rest of the invaders with brutal efficiency.

It was over.

But Eros didn’t move.

Ahcehera was already sprinting before she could think. She passed broken display windows, crushed furniture, and soldiers gathering the wounded. Her boots slid slightly as she reached him, collapsed on one knee, blood dripping steadily from a deep gash in his side.

“Eros!”

He looked up at her, his face pale, the edges of his mouth tinged with crimson. “You’re alright,” he murmured, and then winced as another wave of pain surged through him.

Ahcehera dropped beside him, catching him just as he tilted forward. “Idiot,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. “Why didn’t you wait for backup?”

“If I waited… people would’ve died,” he said faintly, his breathing uneven.

She examined the wound. The gash ran from beneath his ribs down to his hip, sizzling with residual Zerg acid. It had already begun to eat through layers of skin and armor. Panic tugged at her, but she shoved it down.

“We need to get you out of here. Now.”

Eros didn’t protest as she looped his arm around her shoulder, carefully supporting his weight. He was heavy, but she gritted her teeth and moved, shouting to one of the medics. A few soldiers rushed to assist, but Ahcehera refused to let go.

He’d saved the city. He’d saved her. She wouldn’t leave him. The medics wanted to bring him to the central military hospital, but Ahcehera overrode them with a quiet, commanding tone that brooked no argument. “He comes with me. I have the equipment. I’ll stabilize him myself.”

They hesitated. She wasn’t active military anymore, but her name still held weight. She brought him to her private quarters near the south district. A quiet, minimalistic sanctuary laced with subtle wards and an emergency treatment bay from her days on the frontlines. The moment they arrived, she activated the healing pod’s basic systems and gently guided Eros onto the table.

He winced but didn’t complain. The acid had spread further than she expected. She removed his damaged armor carefully, fingers shaking slightly as she peeled away scorched layers of clothing. His skin beneath was torn and raw, the wound bleeding freely.

“Sorry,” she whispered as she cleaned it. He groaned softly but didn’t open his eyes.

She applied neutralizer gel to halt the acid’s spread, followed by a regenerative serum that sizzled when it met the wound. For a long moment, the only sounds were the soft hum of the machines and Eros’s shallow breathing.

Finally, she wrapped his torso in sterile bindings and set the pod to low-energy healing mode to preserve his strength.

He stirred as she finished. “I thought you’d leave me to the medics,” he said hoarsely.

Ahcehera sat beside him, exhaling. “You thought wrong.”

His lips curled into the faintest smirk. “Didn’t think you still cared.”

She looked at him, really looked at him. The blood-streaked hair. The tired eyes that still held fire. The lines of pain etched across his expression. “You think I could ever stop caring?”

Silence settled between them. For all their battles, all their shared histories, it was moments like this, quiet, vulnerable, unguarded, that unsettled her the most.

“You’re always throwing yourself into danger,” she said after a moment. “It’s like you don’t think about what you leave behind.”

“I think about it,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “Every time.”

She reached out without thinking, brushing a damp strand of hair from his forehead. “Next time… don’t do it alone.”

His hand found hers, weak but warm. “Only if you’re fighting beside me.”

Her throat tightened. “Even if I can’t fight the way I used to?”

“You never needed magic to be strong, Ahce.”

The quiet hum of the room wrapped around them like a protective shield. For now, the city was safe. The rift was gone. The Zergs were defeated. But something deeper had shifted between them, and within her.

Eros had nearly died today. And she’d felt something crack inside her when she saw him fall. She looked down at their joined hands, fingers interlaced. It was foolish, maybe, but she tightened her grip anyway.

“I’ll stay here tonight,” she said quietly. “Just in case your condition worsens.”

He nodded, already half-asleep. “Okay… Stay.”

And she did.

As the stars returned to the sky and the last echoes of battle faded, Ahcehera sat in the quiet of her quarters, watching over him. The night was long, but for once, the silence didn’t feel empty.

Eros was alive, and that was enough for now.