Reborn As The Minor Villain In A Romance Fantasy Novel

Elara stirred in her sleep.

Her body felt heavy, like she had been running for hours without rest.

A faint ache spread across her back. For a moment, she thought she was safe.

Her mind went back to Lucius's room… She thought she was there.

But when her eyes slowly opened, reality broke that illusion.

The ceiling above her was strange. Gray stone that was cracked and uneven, it wasn't like Lucius's room at all.

Her lips parted as she whispered,

"Where… am I?"

She tried to sit up, but pain ran through her back like a knife. Her arms trembled as she pushed herself, and a sharp hiss escaped her throat.

"Hey, take it easy…"

The voice startled her. Her head turned quickly and what she saw froze her completely.

The young woman who had been reduced to a skeleton knelt beside her, she was looking very real.

Elara couldn't believe her eyes...

She had watched it twist in pain.

She had heard the scream.

She had seen the beetles crawl inside her mouth.

She had seen the body collapse into nothing but bones.

Elara's eyes widened. Her lips trembled. "You… how… What… You're supposed to be dead."

The woman gave a small, almost tired smile. "I get that reaction a lot. The team looked at me the same way when I came back."

Elara's voice cracked. "But I saw you die."

"I know." The woman's smile faded.

Her tone grew softer. "But I didn't."

Elara blinked in confusion. She wanted to say more, to press for answers, but her throat felt dry.

The woman leaned back against the stair wall and sighed. "My affinity isn't like yours. I can't shoot beams of radiation, or melt things with raw power. And I can't channel lightning like the Captain either. What I can do is…" She paused, biting her lip. "I can create duplicates of myself."

Elara froze, her mind connecting the pieces.

"So that…"

"Yes." The woman nodded before she could finish. "What you saw die was only a duplicate."

Elara stared at her blankly.

The woman went on quickly, as if trying to stop Elara from questioning further. "But don't get the wrong idea. My duplicates aren't amazing like in stories or on television. They're weak. I can only make five at most. They can't even use my full strength. If they take too much damage, they break. That's why…" She gave another small sigh. "That's why I call it trash."

Elara finally forced her body upright, ignoring the dull ache in her back.

"No affinity is trash," she said firmly.

Her brows furrowed as she tried to sound reassuring. "Every power has its use. Well… except dust affinity. That one's pointless."

The woman laughed quietly, covering her mouth. "So you say."

Elara shook her head. "No, really. You're alive because of it, aren't you? That means it's not useless."

The woman's eyes softened. Her hand reached forward and clasped Elara's.

"Then… thank you. Thank you for getting rid of those bugs back there. If not for you, even my real body might have been eaten."

Elara didn't answer. Her gaze turned forward instead.

They were sitting on the dungeon staircase.

The stone walls below were still scorched from the wave of plasma she had released. The air smelled burnt and it was suffocating.

Elara swallowed.

'I did all that?'

Her chest tightened. She could hardly believe it. The destruction stretched as far as she could see.

Was she truly that powerful?

Her eyes dropped back to the woman. Her voice came out quietly. "This is just another clone, isn't it?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "Damn right. The real me is somewhere very safe. My name's Riala."

Elara let out a small sigh. She had been right to be cautious.

"I'm Elara."

Before they could say more, a harsh voice cut through the air.

"Enough of the introductions. Move upward."

Elara jumped, startled. The Captain stood a few steps above them, baton in hand. His eyes glowed faintly from the leftover charge of electricity.

She realized with shock that the entire squad was already ahead of them on the staircase. She hadn't even noticed.

Marco leapt down a few steps, flames trailing from his hands. His usual grin was plastered across his face.

"Hey, that was some impressiv—"

He never finished.

Elara shrugged, barely brushing his arm away. But the moment she made contact, Marco was blasted backward.

His body shot up the stairs like a cannonball, flames scattering wildly around him.

He slammed against the wall hard enough to crack it, groaning in pain.

Elara's eyes widened.

'I barely touched him.'

Her hands trembled. Was she even that strong? Or was something else affecting her?

She had the sudden, sharp sense of being watched.

But when she looked around, there was no one there.

The squad regrouped.

The Captain only gave her a short, sharp glance before turning back up the stairs.

Finally, they reached the top.

The massive doors swung open with a heavy groan, stone grinding against stone and dust fell from the ceiling.

The chamber beyond was vast, wider than the floors they had seen before. The ceiling stretched so high it was swallowed by darkness.

The walls were lined with holes… dozens of tunnels carved into the stone. From every one came a sound that made their skin crawl.

Buzzing.

The squad froze at the entrance, weapons tight in their grip.

"Where the hell is it?" the Captain muttered. His batons sparked with blue electricity, the glow casting faint light across the chamber.

Elara narrowed her eyes, scanning the room.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

She had read about dungeons and had seen on Lucius's streams too.

There was no such thing as a boss-less dungeon. The final room always held one.

But where?

They looked around, seeing nothing but holes and shadows.

Then Marco spoke, his voice tight. "Uh… Boss…"

He raised a hand, pointing upward.

Everyone followed his finger.

The ceiling above was nothing but blackness. Marco clenched his fist, and fire flared from his palm. The flames spread light across the ceiling.

And then they saw it.

A shadow too large to miss. A body pressed against the ceiling, clinging there with dozens of legs.

And two massive eyes, glowing faint blue, staring straight down at them.

The air shook as it opened its jaws, it was the boss.

...

The boss immediately screeched, and the sound was horrid.

It wasn't just loud… it dug into their ears like nails on glass, shaking their bones and rattling their skulls.

Dust fell from the ceiling, and Elara felt her teeth ache from the vibration.

But worse than the noise was what followed.

The buzzing in the walls grew wild.

The holes lit up with movement, the shadows inside stirring, wings beginning to flap. The swarm was waking.

It seemed the monsters were going to pour out all at once, filling the chamber with endless wings and claws.

They could barely hold their ground against one wave of beetles before… how could they possibly survive fighting against several hordes at once?

"Don't worry."

Marco's voice sounded.

He stepped forward, fire already bursting from his skin. In a heartbeat, his entire body was engulfed in flame.

His eyes glowed with the same heat, and his grin flashed through the firelight.

Then he shot forward.

Marco leapt high, spreading his arms wide. His flames whipped outward in great arcs, streams of fire carving across the chamber like glowing whips.

Each stream plunged into one of the dark holes along the walls.

The dungeon shook as flames roared through the tunnels. Screeches echoed from inside as beetles burned before they even had a chance to crawl out.

Smoke poured from the holes, thick and black. The buzzing turned to dying cries.

Elara's breath caught.

'He's burning them before they even reach us.'

But the victory was short-lived.

The Boss screeched again, louder this time.

The sound carried pure rage, vibrating through the chamber until the walls quivered.

Then, without warning, the massive creature detached itself from the ceiling.

Its many legs pulled free from the stone one by one with sickening cracks. Then its enormous body dropped, falling straight toward Marco.

The air shook with its weight.

A smaller cluster of beetles peeled away from its body, spilling down like living armor breaking off.

They weren't nearly as many as the swarm in the walls, but even a few of these things were enough to create chaos.

Still, Elara was done playing games.

Her hand shot out, plasma already forming. The air around her crackled with heat as she compressed it tighter, tighter, until the glow in her palm burned like a miniature sun.

Her heart pounded, but her focus was sharp.

With a shout, she thrust her arm forward and fired.

A searing beam of plasma tore across the chamber, striking the Boss in midair.

The instant it touched the monster's carapace, the beam didn't sink in… it scattered. The energy spread out in every direction, refracting like light against a shattered mirror.

The walls exploded in bursts of fire and light. Several tunnels collapsed.

The force sent shockwaves through the squad.

"Elara! Stop it, you'll hurt the others!" the Captain shouted, his baton sparking with electricity.

Her eyes widened.

She cut the beam off instantly, her chest heaving.

The plasma fizzled into smoke in her palm, and silence fell for half a breath.

Marco had already veered off course, flames propelling him backward out of the Boss's shadow.

The fire was still flowing from his hands to keep the tunnels blocked.

The monster, however, was past the point of stopping.

Its gigantic body slammed into the ground.

The impact shook the chamber with a booming crash, powerful enough to knock them all off their feet.

The shockwave ripped through the dust and smoke, throwing them upward like ragdolls.

The Boss had landed.

[Author's Note]

Feeling a bit sick so 3 tomorrow.