"You're the what…?"
The girl squinted her gem like green eyes, looking insulted. "The Villainess System! A perfect match for a villainous young lady like you! If you become my partner and help me with some missions, who knows, maybe we can even go back to the world you just died in. Weren't you clamoring about it just a few moments ago?"
Did she dare to hope? Turns out she was quite daring indeed, as Emilia felt hope reignite in her heart. "Really? Is that really true?!"
The dark-haired girl looked nonchalant, as if doing this much was not a big deal to her at all. "Of course."
Emilia pounced on the emerald eyed girl before she could respond, wrapping their soul bodies together as both sorrow and joy coursed through her being.
"Thank you… thank you…"
The girl patted her awkwardly. "Well, don't make me feel weird now. We're going to be partners, so you can't act like a damsel in the future, not like this, okay? Be a proper villainess, or you'll make me look bad! And you can call me Cynthia from now on."
Emilia laughed, still feeling a little choked with emotion. Just a few moments earlier, she truly thought it was over for her.
How pathetic it would have been if she couldn't be really happy even with two lifetimes full of chances, and it ended just like that? Thankfully, 'Cynthia' had saved her not once, but twice. If she still failed, she really deserved whatever comes her way!
And regardless of her purpose and whatever use she made of her now, at least Cynthia was being somewhat upfront with her. So, her gratitude to this girl that also called herself 'The Villainess System' was true and deep.
Cynthia grasped her gently, and after a while their existence seemed to warp and disappear from the empty plane. Before long, the two of them appeared again on what looked like a lush hilltop with a single straw hut surrounded by endless forests.
Emilia followed the black-haired girl silently into the hut. It wasn't as destitute on the inside as it looked from the outside. In fact, it looked quite similar to the room she was used to in her first life as a guard. Not luxurious by any means, but certainly livable.
Cynthia climbed on top of the bed and looked quite relaxed with her legs folded, and the redhead felt a little awkward but imitated her shortly after. After living for so long as a princess, it felt slightly awkward for a few moments before she put it out of her mind.
The self-proclaimed villainess system tapped her knee with her forefinger, as if wondering where to begin.
"Alright, so I'll be straight with you here. I'm in dire straits, almost out of energy, and close to blinking out of existence myself. Not to worry though, I can still afford to prepare us for the most basic mission! But if you fail, both us are out of luck."
The redhead nodded solemnly, feeling a little heavier that before. "But what am I even supposed to do?"
"Wait… I'll try to explain it…"
She cleared her throat before pointing her finger at Emilia's chest. "Let's first start by formal bonding."
It was sudden and unexpected, and Cynthia did not give her any time to prepare at all. Screams echoed from the hut as Emilia panicked when the other girl's form vanished from in front of her, seemingly squeezing right into her chest.
Then, an excruciating pain took over her entire being as she faded in and out of consciousness.
Ding!
—Welcome to the Villainess System!
—Physical form not found, generating body based on Void Formula.
Warning! Energy Reserve: 3.26% -> 1.26%
—Imparted 'Void Formula' cultivation method. Current rank is 'Void Initiate'!
—Learned Villainess System Special Ability: Shapeshift! (Cooldown: 8 hours)
—Learned innate ability 'Follower Summoning': Summon a follower for up to 8 hours in each world.
Warning! Energy Reserve: 1.26% -> 1.01%
It felt like years before it was over, but she was not actually clear of the passing of time. All she knew was that she had a physical body once more. And Cynthia and Emilia were now one. Cynthia could talk to her from her 'inner world', and she will be accompanying her this way to her missions.
As for this body, although it looked exactly like the one before she died, she knew that it wasn't the same. Because this body could take the form of anyone—an essential skill of the villainess system.
'Shapeshift' — The ability to morph parts of her body any way she liked. The total mass could not be too different, but otherwise it had few other limitations. The long cooldown limited some of its uses, but Emilia was sure it could still prove very useful, in more ways than one.
Cynthia then transferred quite a bit of information related to the 'Void Formula' directly into her mind, and the redhead took a while to digest it all.
She just needed to gain a basic understanding of the void formula to use 'shapeshift' and 'follower summoning', as she didn't have any energy to cultivate with anyway, so it didn't take her long.
After that, Cynthia started briefing her about how the energy they consume will be harvested from various world wills, and how exactly they would go around harvesting it.
Although it didn't really matter to Emilia, she still felt the need to ask. "Is this 'world will' thing really that bad?"
Cynthia's annoyance was palpable, and she could feel it flowing out of her inner world in waves. "Very bad! If I could, I would destroy all the world wills! They're parasites that have leeched off the power that did not belong to them, and use it to play with people in their world like toys! They make stories and manipulate the will of the people within for entertainment!"
That only served to confuse the redhead more. "Oh…?"
Cynthia's voice was a little uncomfortable, as if she hoped for Emilia to accept what she was saying without digging into it much deeper. "Don't you get it? As long as the 'world will' exists, there is no 'free will' in that world! Even if they are free one moment, the people can become puppets to the world will at any time!"
Emilia was of course willing to accommodate Cynthia and not dig too deep, because this girl was her benefactor for two lifetimes. However, there were still some things that she needed to know to be able to perform her best.
In her mind, Cynthia may call herself a 'Villainess System' and preach all she wants, but this girl was surely dumb in some way. Otherwise, she would not be in such poor condition, depending on the person who had failed two lifetimes!
However, even if she had failed before, Emilia vowed that she would not let this dumb girl down this time. If she knew a little more, perhaps she could figure out something that this airhead missed?
"That doesn't sound good. But how is destroying the so called plot going to do anything at all? Won't the 'world will' just come up with another story and play with different people even if we manage to ruin it once?"
It's good that Cynthia wouldn't directly read her mind and violate her privacy, and only the thoughts she projected towards her explicitly went through. She definitely wouldn't look so smug if she knew she was just thought of as a dumb girl and an airhead.
"Fufufu… you think so because you don't understand. The 'world will' seems mighty but has a very fragile ego. It's not that difficult to completely shatter it! As long as you complete the missions and destroy the plot, we should be good. And once a world will is destroyed, guess who's going to be feasting on all that energy?"
Emilia tilted her head, thinking it was quite obvious. "The two of us?"
Cynthia's tone made her seem like she was talking to an idiot. "No… it's just you! Don't forget we're partners now, sharing our fate for all eternity. I'm too lazy to cultivate myself, I keep getting weaker with time. So I'll be depending on you, partner! Use that energy to break through!"
The redhead was truly dumbfounded this time. "No wait, what? You mean… you're going to just sit and watch?"
No wonder! This girl wasn't just dumb… she was a sloth!
"Ruuude! I'll help you and guide you! Humph. Where would you be without me?"
Well, she can't refute that. Regardless of anything else, she did save Emilia's life twice already.
"Oh, no need to get mad like that. Anyway, what's with this 'Follower Summoning' skill? I don't really have any followers, right? Will I get some after missions?"
She could feel Cynthia stomping petulantly in her inner world.
"Ohh… I'm too tired of explaining already. Can't you just pop open the panel and look through it yourself first? Ask me only if you don't understand!"
Emilia waited for a few moments before calling her again, just to see if she could. "Cynthia?"
"What?"
Uh oh, her groggy voice sounds quite annoyed. "Oh nothing, just checking to see if you were sleeping!"
There was loud bang in her mind, making Emilia flinch. She wondered nervously, did her poor system explode?
"You…! I guess you're really worthy of the villainess system, destroying my peace of mind like that for no reason! Anyway, I'm trying to focus here, and if you disturb me for no reason this time, I shall proceed to scream directly in your mind until I'm tired!"
The redhead felt a chill down her spine at the thought. She was just messing around, but seems like Cynthia really got angry. She didn't know why she felt so much like teasing her, but decided not to do it for a while.
"Ahem, Status?"
[ Emilia : Void Initiate ]
— Shapeshift (Cooldown: 8 hours).
— Follower Summoning (Summoning Duration: 8 hours).
'What the hell… there's literally less information here than there was while I was bonding?'
She was quite disappointed, but kept looking through various empty tabs. Even after looking around for a while, all she could discover was that her next cultivation rank was 'Void Disciple', and that each time she climbed ranks she would not only increase her follower summoning duration, but also gain a new ability. But that's all useless for now, right?
"Cynthia…?"
Although she couldn't hear a response, Emilia knew that not only was Cynthia awake, she was fully prepared to start screaming. If she was really messing around again, it wasn't yet decided who would be more annoyed at the end!
Thankfully she actually wasn't messing around, and her dear partner shouldn't be so mad. "Ahem, so, I wanted to ask, when exactly are we leaving?"
'Is she going to explode? No? I guess not.'
Seems like Cynthia was a bit more reasonable than she thought. Emilia felt a little funny as she thought how perhaps this self-proclaimed villainess system was actually even less of a villainess than herself. The more she talked with her, the more she felt the urge to tease her.
Maybe this really was the perfect place for her.
Cynthia sounded like she was only half listening to her. "Not yet, wait… It's not so easy finding the perfect world for a mission. It needs to be weak enough for us, and then I will scour through its timeline to see if the plot looks reasonable enough for us to interfere in. Even after that, I have to convince the villainess in that world too. And if I mess up any of these steps, I have to start over and waste more energy, which by the way we're very short of!"
Well… looks like it was a lot more complicated than she was expecting. It must be excruciating for a slacker to have to work so hard, right?
"That seems like a lot of work… can I help?"
Cynthia's voice was noticeably softer this time. "Not yet, but it'll all depend on you once we start the mission, okay? Just wait."
Emilia nodded generously. She actually felt a lot more comfortable doing as many things by herself as she could, especially after Maeve's betrayal. "Alright… Don't worry, I'll do my best not to let you down."
A cheerful and loud cackling echoed in her mind in response.
"Kekeke, that's my partner, so dependable! Be confident. A villainess can be annoying, despicable or evil, but she definitely can't be disappointing!"
And after that she fell completely silent. The redhead didn't disturb her either, knowing how important it was to not end up wasting their almost emptied out energy reserves. If she wants to keep teasing Cynthia for a long time, she needs to figure out what the right timing is to not cause explosions!
Emilia was starting to feel slightly lonely, just sitting on the bed in silence for almost two hours when Cynthia's voice finally came to her once more.
"I found something… Next time I'll let you choose but we're poor so let's just go with this one?"
The redhead felt the need to console her, thinking that this little girl was indeed a little pitiful and poor. "It's alright, don't feel bad."
"Humph, w-who feels bad? I'm a villainess system you know, I don't feel bad!"
When she thought about it carefully, Emilia felt slightly dumb. Even if she thought so, she shouldn't poke at her pride for no reason. "Y-Yeah, I didn't mean that?"
Cynthia waved her hand, not minding it anymore. "Of course you didn't. Anyway, the world we're going to this time is very small, and the world will is weak.. The 'plot' it came up with also looks quite dumb, but that's good for us! Just a bunch of high schoolers and their love drama, fufu. Is my villainess ready to make them cry?"