I'm in Love with the Villainess!

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A thin beam of absolute darkness shot from my mouth as I unleashed the spell, grazing the High Inquisitor’s cheek and drawing blood.

But that wasn’t all, and Marcellus and Valtor knew it.

[Light Displacement]

[Light Displacement]

The two of them teleported away before the beam could devour everything within its radius and erupt in a violent explosion.

"What the hell was that!?"

Valtor faltered as he teleported to the edge of the circular arena, raising both palms while two spell circles beside his head swirled, ready to unleash the formulas he had prepared.

"Arden..."

"Let me take care of him."

I answered with a smile, wiping away a drop of spit that had flown from my mouth when I unleashed the spell.

"You sure...?"

"I’m more than sure."

Marcellus nodded, then stepped back out of the arena. Before leaving, he gave one final warning, and it was clear he meant it.

"Don’t kill him."

"No promises."

Valtor’s golden mask had cracked along one edge where the beam had grazed him. A thin line of blood traced down his cheek, disappearing beneath his jaw. For the first time since we’d entered this cavern, his smile had vanished.

"You nearly took my head off," he said quietly.

"You moved."

I rolled my shoulders, shaking off the last of the pain from the hydra head he’d shattered. The spell I’d just used wasn’t something I could throw around carelessly. My throat felt raw, like I’d swallowed glass.

But with [Dark Flame Recovery], that wasn’t exactly an issue.

Valtor was off-balance now. Not physically, his stance was still perfect, his spell circles still spinning, but mentally. He’d been confident a moment ago, certain he had the upper hand. Now he was looking at me differently.

"You’re not a normal mage," he said, studying me with new interest. "That magic... it’s not just dark attunement. It’s something else. Something I’ve never encountered. Was that multiple attunements?"

"Keep guessing."

I raised both hands, and the hydra’s remaining four heads reformed behind me, jaws clicking. Invisible to the naked eye, but Valtor could sense them. I could tell by the way his eyes tracked slightly off from where they actually were.

I had no idea how he was doing that, but I definitely plan to figure it out.

"I’ve faced hundreds of mages," Valtor continued, circling slowly to his left. "Trained killers, battle-hardened veterans, even a few self-proclaimed gods. Think you’d be a match against me, little dark mage?"

"First time for everything."

I matched his circle, keeping the hydra heads trained on him. The divine letters on the pillars had gone dark again, his doing, probably conserving energy.

"You could be useful," Valtor said, almost thoughtfully. "The church is always looking for... unique talents. Talents that operate outside the usual constraints."

"Are you trying to recruit me?"

"I’m offering you a choice. Walk away now, and I’ll pretend this raid never happened. Join us, and you’ll have resources you can’t imagine."

"And if I refuse?"

Valtor’s smile crept back, thinner this time. "Then I’ll have to kill you. And that would be a shame."

"Funny."

I stopped circling.

"Would you actually think I’d believe you would recruit a dark mage?"

[Command Hydra]

[G-g-g-g-g-g-o-t-i-t]

The false hydra’s voice shrieked inside my head, making blood trickle from my left ear, but the pain didn’t matter as long as I could still use its power.

[Endless Fang]

[Dusklight Coating]

[Cursed Serpent]

Four heads, four brains—more than enough to let me spam powerful spells without a moment’s delay. And while one of them might have been crushed, I trusted it wouldn’t take long to regenerate.

I lunged first, my sword aimed straight for his throat.

But he bent backward before the blade could connect, snapping a swift kick toward my abdomen in a counterattack.

But my serpent caught his leg before it could land.

"Too bad!"

FWISH!

I shifted my swing, aiming to cleave his legs from his body, but he teleported away before the strike could land.

[Light Displacement]

"Bring it on, scum!"

Valtor shouted as dozens of chains made of pure light burst from the portals beside his head.

The chains shot toward me like a volley of spears, each one crackling with divine energy that made the air itself scream. I didn’t bother dodging.

The hydra’s heads lunged forward, jaws wide, and tore into the chains. Three of them shattered instantly, but the fourth wrapped around one of the hydra’s necks and squeezed. I felt the pressure in my own throat, choking me.

Not good.

[Cursed Serpent]

I twisted my hand, and black veins erupted from the hydra’s body, latching onto the chain and corroding it from within. The light flickered, dimmed, then collapsed into ash.

Valtor clicked his tongue and raised both arms.

"Divine Spear: Sevenfold Retribution."

Seven lances of condensed light materialized above his head, each one the size of a javelin. They didn’t fire immediately. Instead, they hovered, waiting, their tips glowing brighter by the second like seven miniature suns.

"Let’s see how your dark magic handles holy arms."

"You first."

I clapped my hands together, and the hydra’s heads merged into one massive serpent, its jaws stretching wide enough to swallow a carriage.

[Malignant Flame Manipulation]

[Holy Flame Manipulation]

[Dark Flame Manipulation]

[Absolute Gluttony]

The serpent lunged not at Valtor, but at the ground beneath him. Its jaws closed around a chunk of stone the size of a table and ripped it upward, exposing the dirt and rock below.

Valtor stumbled, the divine spears wobbling as his footing shifted.

"There."

I snapped my fingers.

The serpent’s body detonated.

Flames, black and white intertwined, erupted from the fissure, consuming everything in a twenty-foot radius. The pillars closest to the blast cracked, their divine inscriptions flickering before going dark entirely. Stone rained down from the ceiling, and the waterfall at the far end of the cavern hissed as steam billowed upward, filling the space with thick, scalding fog.

I couldn’t see anything.

But I didn’t need to.

[Soul Sight]

The shadows in the cavern became my eyes. Every contour, every particle of dust, every shift in temperature painted a picture in my mind.

And Valtor was still standing.

Barely.

His white and gold robes were scorched, hanging off him in tatters. His mask had shattered entirely, revealing a face that might have been handsome once, before the burns and cuts and the raw red flesh that covered half of it. He was breathing hard, one hand pressed against a pillar for support.

But his eyes—his eyes were still sharp.

"You..." he wheezed. "What are you?"

"Annoying."

I was already moving.

[Darkfire Step]

I emerged from his shadow, sword drawn, and drove the blade toward his spine. He spun at the last second, catching the flat of the blade with both hands. Light flared between his palms, and the metal of my sword began to glow red-hot.

I let go of the hilt and punched him in the face instead.

His head snapped back, blood spraying from his split lip, but he didn’t fall. Instead, he grabbed my wrist with a grip like iron and smiled through the blood.

"Got you."

[Divine Judgment: Martyr’s Reckoning]