The Villainous Me Turned the Losers into Blackened Bosses-Chapter 27 - Gentle Yet Overwhelming

Leah felt strange.

—Ever since she had stolen that coin, she had been feeling… very strange.

Her heart had been racing non-stop, and her usually stable magical circuits were now in disarray.

This was something she had never experienced in her hundred-plus years of life.

Standing in front of the mirror, Leah wiped the sweat from her forehead—perhaps her magical blood circulation was moving too quickly, causing her to perspire more than usual.

Such a rapid heartbeat…

Such a restless magical flow…

Such an unsettled mind…

There was only one explanation…

Could it be?!

She was in love?!

After all, when she lived in the forest, her mother had once described falling in love with a man. She had said her heart raced, her circuits burned, and her mind was restless—love for witches was always like this!

The thought startled Leah so much that she splashed her face with cold water, trying to calm her mind—even if it was just her mind that calmed down.

No, no, no. Impossible.

There was no way she’d fall for a weak, half-baked, spoiled young master like him. He was the very archetype of the worst kind of villain in the romance novels she used to read!

Besides, he was a weakling!

And he was her student! She couldn’t have improper thoughts about her student!

But the lingering warmth on her wrist, where Will had grabbed her, brought back the memory of his face leaning in close, his playful yet threatening tone, and his voice, still tinged with youthful immaturity, saying:

“—How about I let you examine me, Miss Leah?”

Leah instinctively squeezed her legs together.

“Ahhh—Will Hysterm!!! Will Hysterm!!! What is wrong with you?!”

She ruffled her golden twin-tails in frustration, storming out of the bathroom.

As she stepped into the moonlit hallway, she paused.

The corridor was empty, dimly lit by the moonlight streaming through the windows. It was late at night, and no one else was around.

“Sigh… Did I really stay up this late again?”

Leah ignited a small flame at her fingertip, dispelling the moonlight in her immediate vicinity. She placed her hand on the wall, guiding herself back to her laboratory.

She was the only one left in the lab.

No…

Even if she hadn’t stayed this late, she would still be alone.

Ever since her mother—the one who had always been by her side—had left without a word and disappeared, Leah had been alone.

She pushed open the door to her laboratory.

Her small lab was brightly lit, as chaotic as her office. But upon closer inspection, every magical medium and tool was meticulously arranged and labeled.

At the center of the room sat a massive book, its pages yellowed with age—a clear sign of its ancient origins.

This was the source of ancient magic for witches.

Five hundred years ago, the progenitor of witches, Yaar, had single-handedly cleared a dungeon known as the “Forgotten Library.” Her reward was an extraordinary collection of lost books spanning from ancient to modern times.

Rumors suggested these books included original mythological texts, but Yaar had kept only those related to ancient magic, burning the rest.

From then on, Yaar, armed with her mastery of “ancient magic,” seemed to have altered her magical circuits, granting herself and her descendants unparalleled longevity and exceptional magical talent. She then embarked on a journey of… not villainy, but carefree adventure.

However, Yaar was Yaar, and her descendants were her descendants.

Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes… but a mouse’s offspring doesn’t necessarily know how to dig holes.

The descendants of witches weren’t born knowing ancient magic. Even with the original texts, the obscure and archaic language made mastering the spells a painstaking process.

“Warmth Amidst the Elements…”

This was the ancient magic Leah was trying to master.

As a child living in the forest, she occasionally encountered heavy snowstorms.

One such day, trudging through the deep snow, she returned to the small cottage hidden in the dense woods.

The weather was freezing, and the witch’s home, far from the village, lacked a sufficient supply of firewood.

Her mother had held her close in the center of the room, igniting the magic known as “Warmth Amidst the Elements.”

It was a small cup of water on the table. Once the spell was cast, it radiated heat, warming the entire room.

The house gradually grew cozy, even as the snowstorm raged outside. In the solitude of the forest, this warmth was a rare comfort for a witch who avoided human contact.

“How is it, Leah? Feels warm, doesn’t it? One day, I’ll teach you this magic too.”

“Mm-hmm! I want to learn!”

“It’s very important… because we witches must always rely on ourselves to ignite the flames that fend off the cold, flames that burn eternally. Haha, even if it doesn’t look like fire.”

“Why… why is that?”

“We witches… are strong. We can live for a very, very long time. But the stronger we are, the harder it is to connect with those fragile, fleeting lives. In the end, we’re always alone.”

“This is perhaps the gift and the curse that Lady Yaar bestowed upon us when she gave us life.”

“Remember this, Leah.”

“Strength and solitude will always be the hallmarks of witches.”

“Our springtime may never come again.”

Her mother had ruffled her hair, but Leah’s eyes were fixated on the warm glow of “Warmth Amidst the Elements.”

The flame from her memory flickered and died.

In front of Leah now was a specially prepared solution, clear and slightly viscous, sitting in a glass beaker.

Above it…

Leah glanced at the large countdown written on the wall—10 days.

This was the time remaining until the “Eighth Fire and Flame Magic Research Competition,” where she planned to showcase this ancient magic.

However…

Her progress had been painfully slow. To this day, Leah had yet to succeed even once.

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“Now that I’ve got the coin back, I can continue experimenting. This time, I’ll use a smaller amount of catalyst…”

Leah took a deep breath and placed the coin into the specially prepared solution.

She closed her eyes.

If successful, the coin would stabilize within the solution, transforming it into a molten-like substance capable of radiating heat for an extended period—indefinitely, if she willed it.

Once the initial energy supply was exhausted, the spell would sustain itself without additional input.

While “Warmth Amidst the Elements” wasn’t particularly useful in combat, it was an essential stepping stone for advancing to higher levels of ancient magic. For witches researching fire magic, it was a must-learn spell.

After her failed attack on Will, Leah had revisited the ancient texts, retranslated them, and reflected on her previous mistakes.

She had devised a new ratio for the catalyst, one she believed would bring her closer to success.

And…

Using the indestructible, multi-purpose medium crafted by Yaar herself—the witch coin—as the core heat source might finally do the trick.

Now that she had the coin back, she could try again.

“The gentle breeze once carried the warmth of the earth.”

Leah began circulating her magical circuits. Despite their earlier agitation, they calmed as she chanted.

“The snow once blanketed the brightness of the sky.”

For the first time, she felt every circuit in her body fully engaged in the spell. Her internal awareness was so sharp that she could even sense the rhythm of her organs.

“The ice once sealed the ocean’s embrace.”

Her external perception was equally heightened. As she chanted, she could feel the temperature of every object in the room.

“Here, with this mortal vessel, I return warmth to life, heat to nature, and vitality to the soul.”

Exhaling deeply, Leah focused all her energy on the coin within the solution.

“This is Warmth Amidst the Elements—”

The coin glowed.

Within the deep blue solution, it ignited like a beacon in the ocean’s depths.

But then…

Leah’s body reacted strangely!

Her face flushed, her entire body trembled. Not just her outstretched hand pointing at the coin—her legs were shaking uncontrollably.

“Huff… huff… this… this feels so strange. Why, why is this happening?”

Her magical circuits surged, flooding her body with energy. It was overwhelming, as if her nerves were being overstimulated, ready to burst at any moment.

Witches prided themselves on their stable circuits. But today… what was happening?

“Just… just a little longer. Huff… I can do this!”

Faced with the long-awaited prospect of success, Leah pushed herself to endure.

“It’s… it’s working… it’s finally—”

But just as she thought victory was within reach, the coin in the solution shattered with a loud pop.

“Ah…!”

In that instant, Leah’s last shred of rationality snapped.

Her magical circuits, no longer restrained, surged uncontrollably.

“Ha… mm…”

Leah collapsed to the floor, clutching her legs, her body still trembling.

“Failed again… failed again! And why did the coin break? Witch coins aren’t supposed to break…”

But Leah’s mind was too overwhelmed to dwell on it.

She hugged her knees, her body still quivering.

“And why… why…”

“Huff… when I was casting the spell… why did it feel… so different?”

“It was like… huff… like a warm current flowed through all my magical circuits…”

“It felt… ha… it felt kind of… good?”