I will not die a Villainess's death

Elysia followed after the assassin without much thinking. Her body was moving on its own, following the familiar moment of the figure she was chasing.

It was thanks to the magic amulet that the assassin was being tacked at all. His arms looked light and he doesn't seem to be carrying anything of interest.

But Elysia knew better than to underestimate the man. She hurried after the black-clad assassin, her eyes trained on the lean body.

Lightning cracked in her hand as Elysia let her magic flow. The assassin managed to dodge and Elysia had to cancel her spell to not injure the ordinary people down there.

She was currently chasing after the assassin while running on top of the roofs and her feet were having a hard time maintaining her grip on those rooftops.

It almost felt like someone had cast magic on the tiles to ensure that Elysia's feet does not stick to the rooftop.

'Ugh, so annoying. How is the assassin managing to flee away so fast? It's not like he has any assistance.'

Elysia was annoyed at her circumstances but there was nothing much she could do but follow behind the assassin.

The assassin turned to look at her for just a second and that was enough for Elysia to realize that something was wrong. The assassin was far too relaxed for someone who was being chased for a crime.

'Oh no, it's a trap and I fell into it.'

The realization came too late and Elysia was a goner by that time. She did not see the spell coming her way, nor did she feel it making any contact with her body.

But she did remember the feeling of wind in her hair as they were ruffled by it and Elysia's balance was lost.

A pair of soft arms caught her and Elysia remembered the magic taking over her consciousness.

"Go to sleep, the one forsaken by this world. By the time you wake up tomorrow, the deed would be done and you would be one of us. Then you brother would have no choice to either forsake you as well or protect us all."

The one who was speaking sounded far too calm for Elysia's nerves. She did not sound how Elysa thought an evil person would sound. Nor did she feel particularly 'evil' to her.

Actually, the person who had caught Elysia did not feel like anything. She was a blank canvas in the stream of other feelings.

Her presence created a hole in the magic surrounding her and yet the female remained unharmed.

"W-Who…What are you? Are you even human?"

Elysia managed to ask that question before she lost consciousness. She had no idea if she managed to get an answer or not from the figure before she was out like the light.

People stopped even breathing as they watched a high-born noble fall from the roof and be caught by a questionable person the very next second.

The lady had appeared out of the air and attempted a daring rescue.

"E-Excuse me, but shouldn't we take that person to the hospital? I mean, she could be quite hurt."

Someone from the crowd called out. The eyes of the savior were hidden behind shadows that made it impossible to see what they were thinking about but the female still felt herself take a step back.

"You will forget about everything you just saw. Nothing happened here."

A translucent mist accompanied those words and the village people's eyes went dazed. When they came around after some time, no one knew why they had gathered in the vicinity.

No one remembered a thing that had happened and Elysia's existence was forgotten by that village.

In the meantime, the priestess who had saved Elysia stood still in the shadows to make sure nothing had gone wrong. Once she was assured that nothing had gone wrong, she picked Elysia up and took a step into the portal made up of shadows.

And with that, she was gone and she had also managed to kidnap Elysia successfully.

As for the assassin? He dissolved into the shadows as well. That person had never truly existed and now he was back to his original form - the shadows.

__________________________

When Elysia woke up next, she was in a dark room with no source of light. A coppery smell reached her nose and it took her a second to realize that it was blood she was smelling.

And it was blood in huge amounts that were even covering her body. The liquid she had been thrown in was tinted red and it made her body hurt just by touching it.

Elysia struggled to get out of the binds that had been forced on her body but it seemed next to impossible in her condition.

She could neither feel her magic nor her body's strength to help her out.

"Resistance is futile. I not only managed to seal off your magic but also managed to trap you in the sacrificial array. The more you try to struggle, the more magic you will feed it."

Aurora stopped struggling, her face looking up at that voice only to see the familiar face of that priest grinning back at her.

The other female was sitting on the heels of her feet. That made her face even-leveled with Aurora's who was submerged in the blood pool.

"Where am I? Why am I here?"

Aurora had an inking of why she was here but she wanted to confirm her feelings on this topic. It would not be good to jump to conclusions so soon.

"You should know very well why you are here. You are the catalyst to starting our reaction. You see, we tried so hard to gather all the ingredients but we were still missing the main energy source."

"Luckily, you managed to come to us as if it was your destiny to help us out. Now we are going to use you for your intended purpose."

Aurora frowned at the explanation, not liking it one bit. Why has she considered a sacrifice against her own will?

And had been her destiny then Aurora was sure she would have seen it in a vision way before today.

The priest was more than likely delusional and was on her way to justify her immoral actions with the talk of 'destiny.'

"What's wrong? Why do you look like you do not believe me when I said that it is your destiny to help us out? After all, we are both deemed as 'villains' by this world so why should we help keep it safe? You should thank me for providing you with an opportunity to take revenge on it."

Elysia's blood went cold when she heard the first part. But the more she heard, the more she calmed down.

This priest seemed to not know what she was talking about. Her talk was more akin to a mad person barking than a person who knew something.

"Release me. You will not gain anything by trying to take revenge on this world. Neither you nor I needed to try hard to fit into the role that was 'given' to us. We are our people who can make our own decisions."

Aurora felt sympathy for the priest. She seemed to be in a bad situation as Elysia herself. But unlike Elysia, she seemed to have given up already on her destiny.

The priest laughed out loud at Elysia's words, her face twisted into a joyful smile.

"You are as foolish as you are pretty. Do you think that your destiny is something you can run away from? Both you nor I do not have a choice in this matter. You will realize just how helpless it feels to go against destiny soon. Look, even your body had begun to betray you."

The priest's words rang true as Elysia felt a burning sensation in her heart spreading all over her body.

She was heating up and her magic was seeping out of her a little at a time to mix with the blood pool.

It was an unconscious action that Elysia was not even aware of but it was happening so fast that it made her afraid. It still flowed out even when Elysia tried to close the lid of her magic.

"See, you can no longer control yourself. It was always in your nature to be evil and your magic knows it. That's why it is trying hard to take over your senses to make you do what you should have a long time ago."

Elysia struggled to unhand herself but it was seemingly impossible. Her magic was holding her hostage and not allowing Elysia to do what she wanted to do.

For the first time in her life, Elysia experienced what helplessness was like and she did not like it a bit. She wanted to gain freedom but her body refused to grant this to her.

'Someone, save me. I don't care who you are, just save me.'

Elysia prayed in her mind as her body began to sink into the blood pool. She no longer had any energy to keep her head up and her eyes closed as a result of her lack of energy as well.

"Enjoy your last few moments as a human. Once you wake up you will no longer be a part of this living world."

The priest sounded far too happy as she said that and Elysia's body sank even further into the blood pool.

She tried one last time to reach out to the priest but it was futile. The other lady refused to help her out.

However, Elysia did watch the priest collapse just as her head went under the blood pool, and the shadow that had struck the priest ran toward her. Elysia's hand was the only thing visible in the pool by the end as that new person tried to reach for her.

But even that seemed to be futile as Elysia's hand escaped that grip inches away and no one could see her anymore.

Elysia would either die here or her magic would be dissolved into the blood pool and become a part of it. Both options sucked but they were the only ones she had.