Victor laughed through the iron bars, the sound echoing down the dark stone corridor.
"Survive the night? You’re delusional, Kaelen," Victor sneered. "You’re an F-Rank peasant locked in a anti-magic cell. What are you gonna do, mop me to death?"
Before I could answer, a shadow blotted out the moonlight inside my cell.
Valeska stepped out from the corner. The crimson slits of her featureless visor burned with pure, unfiltered murder.
Victor’s S-Rank spirit—the Sun-Forged Blade—involuntarily manifested beside him. The golden archon took one look at Valeska, trembled violently, and forcibly un-manifested itself, retreating back into Victor’s soul in sheer terror.
"W-What?!" Victor gasped, his face turning pale. "Ignis... fled?!"
Valeska didn’t even look at Victor. She reached out with her black-armored hand and grabbed the reinforced, anti-magic iron bars.
CRUNCH!
With a casual flick of her wrist, she ripped the three-inch-thick iron bars out of the stone wall like they were wet toothpicks and tossed them aside.
The two paladins standing next to Victor immediately drew their broadswords, their hands shaking. "H-Halt, Heretic!"
Valeska didn’t even bother drawing her sword. She raised her palm and released a brief burst of black kinetic force.
BOOM!
The shockwave blasted both paladins down the corridor like cannonballs, their heavy plate armor shattering against the stone walls before they landed in a bloody heap sixty feet away.
Victor fell onto his ass in horror, scrambling backward like a terrified crab. "M-Monster! GUARDS! HIGH INQUISITOR! THE HERETIC BROKE OUT!"
Victor scrambled to his feet and sprinted down the corridor, screaming at the top of his lungs.
I stepped out of the cell, stepping over the shattered iron bars. "I told you to worry about surviving the night, Victor."
Valeska walked out beside me, her tattered ash cape billowing behind her. "I did not break those bars for you, mortal. I broke them because I refuse to be caged in a hole."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Empress," I said, dusting off my jeans. "Let’s get out of here before the whole castle wakes up."
I deliberately said her title wrong. But she didn’t bother correcting me.
We strode through the underground dungeon like we owned the place.
Every time a squad of paladins rushed down the stairs to intercept us, Valeska didn’t even slow her pace. A flick of her wrist, a sweep of her hand, or a single heavy step was enough to send five armored guards flying through the stone walls.
It wasn’t a fight. It was a demolition derby.
By the time we burst through the heavy oak doors of the palace dungeon, we were standing on a high balcony overlooking the capital city of Sol-Valen. A cold night rain was falling, washing over Valeska’s obsidian armor.
[WARNING: Aether Capacity Draining (20/150)]
[Sustaining SSS-Tier Entity in the Real World Requires Continuous Energy...]
A sudden wave of exhaustion hit me. My knees buckled, and I stumbled against the stone railing of the balcony.
Valeska turned, her hand shooting out and grabbing me by the collar of my jacket. She hoisted my entire body off the ground with one arm, holding me over the edge of the three-story drop.
"You are pathetically frail, Kaelen Cross," Valeska said, her crimson visor staring into my eyes. "If you collapse again, I will drop you into the cobblestones below and find a new master."
Even while hanging over a thirty-foot drop, I didn’t panic.
I reached up with my right hand, grabbed her black-armored gauntlet, and activated my innate trait directly against her wrist.
[Innate Trait: [Somatic Overload Lv. 1] Activated!]
BZZZZT!
A sharp pulse of purple Aether shot through her gauntlet and straight into her skin.
"Ah...!" Valeska let out a sharp, breathless gasp.
Her visor instantly flared from crimson to a brilliant, flustered pink. Her entire body shivered, her grip on my collar instantly losing all of its strength. She dropped me onto the stone balcony and stumbled back two steps, her breathing coming out in fast, shallow gasps.
"Y-You... vile, insolent insect!" Valeska panted, her hands trembling as she clutched her wrist. "How dare you... use that degenerate trick again?!"
[Entity ’Valeska’ Experienced High Sensory Overload!]
[Affection/Receptivity: +5% (Total: 10%)]
[Aether Pool Restored (+80)!]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 150 -> 200!]
I stood up, rubbing my neck, feeling the fresh surge of Aether flowing through my veins.
"I told you, Empress. As long as you’re tethered to me, you can’t get rid of me that easily."
Before Valeska could recover from her sensory overload and hurl a fireball at my face, a massive bronze bell began to toll across the city.
DING! DING! DING!
Magic flares erupted in the night sky, casting bright red light over the rooftops of Sol-Valen.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: High Empire of Sol-Valen Has Declared You a CLASS-S FUGITIVE!]
[Bounty Issued: 100,000 Gold Coins (Dead or Alive)]
[Main Quest Unlocked: Escape to the Lawless City of Oakhaven!]
[Unlock Requirement for 2nd SSS-Tier Villainess: Reach Max Aether Capacity of 500]
"Looks like the whole kingdom is coming for us now," I said, watching hundreds of torches light up in the streets below.
Valeska’s visor slowly shifted from pink back to a deadly, burning crimson. She drew her six-foot black greatsword from her back, the blade igniting in black flames.
"Let them come," Valeska growled, her voice echoing with dark anticipation. "I’ll turn this entire empire into ash once more."
I smirked, wiping the rain off my face as I stepped up beside her.
"Lead the way, Empress. We’ve got an empire to burn."