The villainess shall be mine

"There seem to be no one inside… Let's stay here for now…" Adam said, after inspecting the abandoned house.

He didn't expect to find a house somewhere around the rocky mountain, but it seemed like there were only a few monsters in the area, and they could be dealt with easily with the black plasma sword by aiming for the head.

Liu followed Adam and glanced at him from behind. 'From what he said earlier, the others didn't come with him… Does that mean that he…' Liu thought to herself.

Liu was still confused about a lot of things but seeing Adam who tried his best to remain calm, along with his attitude when facing monsters, because he wasn't even surprised to see such ugly creatures, which would make one believe that he fought monsters all of his life, all of that made Liu wonder if the person in front of her was the same as the Adam who challenged her into a duel.

"Just give me fifteen minutes… I need to close my eyes a bit. I know that you are confused about many things, so you can ask Cristal about some details for now, and I will tell you everything else later." Adam said to Liu, then he sat next to the door and closed his eyes, and he instantly passed out.

Cristal turned into her cube-like form since the environment was breathable, mostly because it was a bit far from the city infested with monsters and dark miasma, so the helmets were not needed.

Liu looked at Zax who laid down on what looked like a bed made of wood, after all, the whole house was made of wood and tree trunks. One could only imagine what this house was used for before it was abandoned, but its interior suggested that someone didn't live there permanently even before the invasion.

"So, you are that maid?" Liu asked, looking at Cristal who floated next to her.

[Yes. This is my original form.]

"I see." Liu knew that Cristal was different but she didn't expect her to an AI, after all, how could be an AI feel like they were human. This must be the reason why Adam hide it from other people, or so she thought. "Can you tell me what happened after I was taken?"

Liu talked as if she was asking about the weather, but that was only because she tried to not cause any problem for Adam. It was her carelessness that was the reason for all of this after all. Now that Verte wasn't with them, she knew that she had failed, and she couldn't blame anyone.

She glanced at Adam again. 'I should express my gratitude…'

[After you left, Master explained to everyone the reason why they couldn't come with him to save you. Then, he instructed them to return to the ship...]

Cristal began to tell Liu the events which had happened after she was taken by the commander. She told her about what Adam did to save her.

[Master was careless and didn't think about the possibility that someone would be able to counter his power. Things took a very bad turn from there, and even though he managed to take down this enemy, their boss was too strong. After that, I was also taken out of the fight.]

'What kind of power does Adam has?' Liu thought. 'Was he that confident that he could bring me back with his power alone? I don't even know if what he did wasn't just pure recklessness.'

Liu looked at the man in front of her, and when she saw that Adam's body was dirty and covered with wounds, but after staring for a while she quickly averted her eyes, mostly because Adam was still naked and only the black cape covered his body. The events that had succeeded made Adam forget about his nakedness, and the black cape kept his body temperature stable so he didn't feel like he was naked.

After averting her eyes, Liu looked at Zax. "So that means that Verte was…"

[I am not sure what happened, but it seemed like master managed to beat the last boss, however when I regained my functionalities, the baby was already gone, and Master didn't say anything about it.]

"I see…" Liu muttered and looked a little bit dejected. From her point of view, her failure was undeniable. Not only did she let the enemy take her by surprise but Verte was also gone. At that moment, a face appeared inside of her mind and her body twitched.

"So the others stayed here and should have waited for us? But…" Liu immediately put away her negative thoughts, because she understood that it was not good for her to be that way.

[Yes, it seemed like something happened while we were on the other side.]

"From the look of it, the monsters had already overtaken this planet, to the point that there are no living humans within the vicinity. Such a thing wouldn't happen in a day… And more importantly, what about the Empire?" Liu assessed the situation.

[There was no sign of human presence within this area, but I can't say about the other places, however, it's highly probable that your theory is right, miss Liu.]

Liu powdered for a while, trying to process the information that she heard from Cristal, after that, the first thing that concerned her was what happened to her companions, and then she looked at Zax.

'I must have worried her…' She thought, looking at the petite girl in front of her, who seemed so frail.

Cristal explained what Zax did and how she end up coming with Adam. After hearing all of that, all of the things that Zax went through just to save her, Liu felt a little bit emotional, even though she said to herself that such emotions were not needed for the sake of her goal.

Zax was crying in her sleep as if she was dreaming about something that affected her emotions. Liu stared at Zax, then tried awkwardly to hold her hand.

Cristal didn't say anything and just floated there in silence. Maybe it was because Cristal was an AI and she didn't have any emotions, but Liu didn't act like she usually did when she talked with her.

*****

:::[Adam's POV]:::

My head felt extremely heavy, and I couldn't open my eyes but I was aware of my surrounding.

'So Liu can talk like that, huh…' I thought.

She was usually cold and looked like she didn't feel anything, but from the look of it, Liu was very sensible, to the point that it affected her so much that she build a wall around herself. 'At least, that's what I think…'

For some reason, I felt a little bit relieved after seeing her, and I thought that giving her the tree fragment was a good thing. 'She certainly has a lot going on, and the fact that she is trying to keep her calm in this situation is remarkable… She is a good woman.'

I knew that I needed to get the girls out of here as fast as possible, then think about what happened once we manage to do that, but my body wouldn't move.

*****

:::[Third Person POV]:::

Liu was the only one who knew about the mission that her father entrusted her to accomplish, and the fact that she went to the planet that was under the jurisdiction of the Kepalta family wasn't part of it, and Liu didn't report back to her father before she was kidnapped.

This sounded like an insignificant detail but when things took a bad turn, it sealed the fate of Yelena and the others.

"I was sure of it, these two would never betray Miss Liu." The man in a distinct white Chinese-like outfit said, thinking about the events that happened after Adam and Zax went to save Liu.

The spaceship that used to be Liu's ship was given to him, and he was appointed to perform Liu's duties.

"But even if she were to come back… I hope she is fine." The man said, looking like he was worried about Liu. He was one of the few people in the Fenrirus family that cared about Liu more than her father. After all, he was Liu's uncle and youngest brother of the current head.

The reason for his concern was related to Liu's companions. Yelena, Feldenis, and another woman were found unconscious somewhere inside the forest of Mistolteos. It was the three men that were sent to keep an eye on Liu who found them after they received a message from Yelena. However, they had lost track of Liu, and she was nowhere to be found, and Timothy also disappeared.

"Still, I can't tell if the brat that came with them was not behind all of this." The middle-aged man added.

Yelena and Timothy were brought back to the Empire after that, leaving behind Brondon who in the end lost his life, because Feldenis lost his consciousness before he could treat.

However, what awaited them there was the fury of the head of the Fenrirus clan, and Yelena was the one who was blamed the most for what happened to Liu.

She was tortured to the point that she was about to die, and in the end, she said everything about Adam and Liu's intention to test him.

Liu's companions were imprisoned, stripped of all of their human rights, and treated more badly than animals.

Unfortunately, not long after that, the planet under the jurisdiction of Kepalta fell into chaos and destruction, making it hard for them to find clues about Liu's whereabouts.