Transmigrated as the Villain Between the Heroine and the Villainess

Kaelen's voice rang out through the smoke, loud and angry.

"So, you finally made it, Azrael."

He took a step forward, his golden hair catching the light of the fires around them. His eyes were locked on him.

"I have to admit, I'm a little surprised. I thought you'd be one of the first to be eliminated."

He let out a short and a bitter laugh.

Pss.

"But of course, you would survive," Kaelen continued. "You have the Ice Witch to fight your battles. You have the pride of the Vane family to protect you. And you even have my own sister hiding you from danger."

He pointed his sword its tip shaking slightly with his anger.

"It must be easy to get to the end when you let everyone else do the hard work for you, right?"

Azrael said nothing. He just watched the hero, his own face a calm, cold mask.

Isolde sighed dramatically from beside him. "Brother, please. Such ugly words. We are a team. We work together."

"I'm not talking to you, Isolde," Kaelen snapped, his eyes never leaving Azrael.

He then looked at his own teammates. The look on his face was one of pure trust.

"I will take this bastard myself," he declared. "The rest of you can choose your opponents as you wish. Just win."

With that, he started walking.

He moved slowly, deliberately, his boots crunching on the black ash. Each step was heavy with promise. The promise of a fight. The promise of punishment.

He was walking straight for Azrael.

Azrael stood his ground, but he was not alone. Selvara moved without a word, placing herself between him and the coming hero. She stood like a wall of ice, her hand on her sword, her cold eyes daring Kaelen to take another step.

'She's protecting me,' Azrael thought and a strange feeling twisting in his chest.

Kaelen stopped. He looked at Selvara, his expression hardening. "Step aside, Selvara. This is between me and him."

Before Selvara could answer, three figures from the hero's team moved forward. It was the two third-years, Leon and Ronda, and the first-year, Paul.

Leon, the giant with the shield, banged his fist against its metal surface. His skin took on a rocky, grey texture. He had an Earth Affinity.

Thud!

"Don't worry about the prince, Ice Witch," he boomed "You have bigger problems to deal with. We were hoping we'd get to fight you."

Ronda, the woman with the spear, spun her weapon in a circle, creating a small whirlwind around it. A Wind Affinity user. "We heard you were the strongest. Let's see if the stories are true."

Paul, the first-year, snapped his fingers, and small, glowing embers appeared in the air around him, a basic Fire skill.

Selvara's lips curled into a cold smile. She turned her head slightly to look at Azrael. "Go. I will handle these children." She then turned back to her three opponents, her body crackling with a cold, blue energy.

At the same time, the other matchups were being made.

Gareth of House Valois, a strong-looking second-year with a confident smirk, stepped up to face Isolde. A faint shimmer of energy surrounded his fists. His skill was [Kinetic Charge], allowing him to store power in his attacks.

"Princess," he said with a small bow. "I hope you can give me a good fight."

Isolde just giggled, a light, airy sound. "Oh, I am sure it will be very… interesting."

That left two people.

Elvara, her hands glowing with a soft, warm light, stood across from Seraphina. She didn't need a staff; her power came directly from her.

There was no anger between them, only a deep, confusing sadness. Two heroines, forced to be on opposite sides.

The entire clearing was a picture of perfect, frozen tension. Four different fights, ready to explode.

And then, everything moved at once.

Selvara was the first to attack. She did not charge. She stomped her foot, and the ground in front of her erupted. A wave of sharp, black ice shot across the field towards her three opponents.

Leon roared and slammed his shield down, a wall of solid rock rising from the ground to meet the ice. The two forces crashed together, sending shards of stone and ice flying everywhere.

Ronda used the chaos to leap into the air, her wind-enhanced spear aimed right at Selvara's head.

Clang!

Seraphina moved next. Her hands hit the ground, and a cage of glittering crystal shot up around Elvara.

But Elvara was ready. A dome of pure, white light, like a tiny star, appeared around her. The crystal cage shattered against it, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces that glittered in the firelight.

Isolde just smiled at Gareth. The wind around them suddenly picked up, a small tornado of ash and dust. Gareth shielded his eyes for a second, confused.

When the dust settled, Isolde was gone.

"Looking for me?" her voice whispered from right behind him.

Gareth spun around, his eyes wide with shock.

The main fight, however, was just beginning. With Selvara busy, Kaelen started walking towards Azrael again.

This time, no one stood in his way.

He stopped a few feet away from Azrael. He did not look happy. He did not look curious. His face was a mask of pure hatred.

"All this time," Kaelen said."All this time I've had to watch you. Watch you walk around this academy like you own it. Watch you hurt people who are better than you."

Azrael let out a quiet breath. 'Here it comes. The hero's speech.'

"I don't care what happened to you," Kaelen continued and his voice getting louder. "I don't care if you learned a few new tricks. You are still the same pathetic coward you have always been. You are a stain on your family's name, and you are a stain on this academy."

"The man you hate is gone," Azrael said, his voice low and even. "He was a fool. A weak boy who thought the world owed him something."

"And you're not?" Kaelen spat. "You think you're better than him? You just hide behind clever words now instead of your family's money."

"I'm just trying to survive," Azrael replied. He slowly raised his own sword. "And I'm not here to talk. I'm here to win."

Kaelen's face twisted in rage.

"Fine," he snarled. "Then you can survive this."

He exploded into motion. He was a golden blur, his sword cutting through the smoky air.

Clang!

Azrael was ready. He met the hero's blade with his own. The impact sent a jarring shock up his arm. Kaelen was so much stronger.

Azrael was pushed back a step, his feet sliding on the ash.

"Is that all you have?" Kaelen taunted. "No one to protect you now! No tricks to hide behind! Just you and me!"

He swung again, a powerful downward slash. Azrael didn't try to block it head-on. He moved his body, turning with the blow, and used the flat of his own sword to push Kaelen's blade to the side.

It was a move from the Flowing Steel Style. A move Sebastian had used on him a hundred times.

Kaelen stumbled, surprised by the move, but his hatred made him recover instantly.

"So you learned to dance," Kaelen sneered. "It won't save you."

He sent out a few of his threads, so thin they were invisible in the dark, smoky air. He was not trying to set a trap. He just wanted to feel the battlefield. One thread attached to a burnt tree stump. Another attached to a loose rock.

"You know, for a moment, after the duel, I actually thought you might have changed," Kaelen said as he prepared his next attack. "I thought maybe getting beaten so badly taught you something."

He looked over at Seraphina, who was now locked in a fierce battle with Elvara, a storm of crystal and light.

"But you're still the same. You still think she is some prize to be won," Kaelen said, his voice low with disgust.

"And you're the one who deserves to win her?" Azrael asked, a cold smile on his lips. "The perfect hero, here to save the day?"

"I'm the one who is going to make you pay for hurting her!" Kaelen said. He charged again.

His attacks were a storm of steel. Azrael was a small boat in that storm. All he could do was block, dodge, and try to stay afloat.

He used his threads to help him. He would pull on a rock to help him dodge a little faster. He would pull on a tree root to keep his balance after a powerful block.

They were small things. Tiny tricks. But they were keeping him in the fight.

Kaelen was starting to get frustrated. Azrael was like smoke. He was there, but he was not there. Every time Kaelen thought he had him, Azrael would slip away.

"Stop your cowardly tricks and fight me like a man!" Kaelen yelled.

"Why?" Azrael asked. "So you can win with your brute strength? Is that what being a man is? Just hitting things until they break?"

"A man fights with honor!" Kaelen shot back.

"And what is honor?" Azrael asked. "Is it honorable to scream at someone you know is weaker than you? Is it honorable to use the power you were born with to punish those who have nothing?"

His words hit their mark. Kaelen paused for a second, his eyes full of confusion and rage.

Azrael used that second. He pushed forward, his sword a silver flash. It was his first real attack of the fight.

Kaelen was surprised, but he was still the hero. He was faster. He blocked the attack easily.

With a powerful push, he sent Azrael stumbling backward.

He followed up with a kick to Azrael's stomach. The blow was hard and fast. Azrael tried to block it with his arm, but the force of the kick sent him flying.

He landed hard on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs. The world spun.

Kaelen stood over him, his sword pointed at his throat. The hero's face was full of anger, his chest heaving.

"No more talking," Kaelen growled. "No more tricks. This ends now."