Transmigrated as the Villain Between the Heroine and the Villainess

The creature's bony fist was coming.

Everyone could see it, a grey blur of death aimed directly at Seraphina's frozen form.

They could feel its force, a wave of raw power that rippled through the air.

As it was about to connect, a thin, silver thread wrapped around Seraphina's waist and yanked.

She was pulled backward, out of the path of the punch, just as it smashed into the spot where she had been standing, shattering the stone road.

The thread, pushed to its limit, snapped with a faint sound.

Another thread immediately caught her, pulling her into a hard chest. She looked up into Azrael's cold, focused eyes.

He was standing between her and the monster now.

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the place where Elvara was. "Join her. This isn't your battle anymore."

"Are you thinking of fighting him?" she said, her voice a panicked whisper. "Please, don't. Just run away."

"This isn't about running anymore," he said, his voice low and steady. "And it isn't about fighting. This is about the truth. The justice that needs to be served."

He pushed her gently towards the hut. "So go now. Let me handle the rest." He said it while gripping the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white.

The monster turned its empty eye sockets towards him. The voice in his mind was a raw, hateful scream.

'Kill. Kill. I will kill you.'

The next moment, it charged, its incredible speed turning it into a phantom.

But Azrael's Limitless Comprehension skill was active.

It wasn't perfect, but it showed him faint traces of the creature's path, a ghostly afterimage of where it was going to be.

He jumped to the side just as it delivered a deadly punch.

He blocked the blow with Stalling Edge, but the power behind it was immense.

It sent him flying backward, crashing into an already broken tree.

He spit blood but pushed himself back to his feet.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Azrael shouted, his voice rough. "That Mariam girl. She was everything to you."

Hearing her name seemed to break through the creature's rage.

A memory it had lost, a memory it had buried under years of hatred, flickered in its mind.

He saw her smile, a bright, warm thing that could light up a room.

He saw them running through the palace gardens, her laughter echoing in the air.

The voice in his head, his own voice, came back, cracked and full of pain.

'She mocked me. She laughed at me... she termed my love as...'

He couldn't speak the words. 'She left me to die. She called me a dog... a toy.'

His next attack came, this time with even more force.

Azrael, still leaning on the broken tree, brought his sword up to block. The blow came down, so powerful that Azrael's hair was whipped back by the force of it.

His hands trembled, struggling to even hold the sword.

Then, with a loud crack, the blade shattered into a hundred pieces. Azrael coughed, a spray of blood leaving his lips.

"No!" he yelled, his voice raw. "That was the lie you chose to believe because hate was easier than the truth!"

The monster's jerky movements stopped for a second.

"She loved you!" Azrael forced the words out between ragged breaths. "And you killed her before you ever let yourself hear her last words!"

"Liar!" The thing's roar cracked the air. "She called me a toy. She broke me."

Its angry fist was ready again.

Azrael's trembling hand reached into his coat.

The others, scattered and broken across the street, looked up through the blood and smoke.

For a moment, they thought he was pulling out a hidden blade.

Instead, he drew out a chain. A small, silver pendant dangled from it, catching the moonlight in a sudden gleam.

The monster's entire body froze.

Its fist, drawn back for the killing blow, stopped mid-air. Its eyeless sockets locked onto that glint of silver.

Its hateful movements faltered, replaced by a shudder that ran through its entire skeletal frame.

"...That pendant..." The voice in their heads cracked, trembling like brittle glass. "...Where did you... get that?" He remembered it. It was the same one he had given to Mariam.

Azrael's lips curled in a bitter smile. He held the pendant higher. "Does it matter where? What matters is what's inside."

The clasp clicked open. Inside, tucked behind a faded miniature portrait of a woman, was a folded scrap of paper.

Azrael's voice cut the silence as he read it aloud, each word heavy.

"Sweetie, I don't know when you'll find this. But if you do… please don't hate your mother. It was your mother selfishness that forced her. I wanted to protect you, but I couldn't. I have a truth to tell you… find my diary in my chamber."

The monster's claw trembled. The rage in its body cracked, faltering like a fire doused by sudden rain. "Her… words…"

He reached once more into his coat and pulled out a small, leather-bound diary, worn at the edges, tied with a faded ribbon.

He held it out on a trembling thread, extending it toward the monster.

"Before I came here, I found it," Azrael said, his voice softening, no longer a shout, but a raw whisper. "Look for yourself. Stop drowning in lies. Stop letting rage decide who you are."

The creature, Eric, took the diary.

He looked at it. It was the same one she used to write in, to tell everything that was happening in her life to her dead mother.

He turned the first page. The date was written in her neat, looping handwriting.

Mother, today a boy helped me. He didn't know who I was, or what he would gain in return. I brought him back to our palace. He is such a good boy, Mom.

He turned the page.

Mother, Eric's father is too cruel. I swear I will beat him down to death. Oh, and Mother, I begged Father to hire Eric. Now he will live with us!

Next page.

Mother, I had so much fun today! Me and Eric escaped the palace and went to see the people outside. We played, we ate, I enjoyed it so much. It reminded me of when you and I used to be together.

Next page.

Mother, you know, yesterday Eric stood by my side the whole night, holding my hand when I fell ill. He told the others he wouldn't leave me.

Next page.

Mother, I have made up my mind. When I grow up, I will marry Eric. That's final.

Tears, black and thick like oil, started to fall from the monster's empty eye sockets.

He turned the pages, each one a memory he had forced himself to forget.

Then, the tone changed.

Mother, what should I do? I want to die. Father found out that we slept together. He is serious about killing Eric. Mother, please help me. I don't have the courage anymore. I fought for him, but it led me here, locked in my room. Mother, I swear, if anything happens to him, I will take my own life.

Mother, I heard Eric was sent to fetch some goods from another noble family even before the truth was discovered. He is safe for now. I have to do something. I can't let him die.

Mother, Father killed Eric's father in a rage, in front of the whole village. I am so scared, Mother.

Eric saw the tear stains on the page, blurring the ink.

Mother, I have found a harsh way. A terrible path. But it's the only way. I will become a villain for my beloved, to save him. Mother, I am taking a step to break him, to make him never chase me again, while making sure Father believes I was wrong, I was evil, that I was just using him. That's the only way, Mom.

Next page. The ink was a mess, the page warped from how much she must have cried on it.

Mother, I did it. I insulted him in front of everyone. I called him a toy. I saw the look in his eyes... it was like I had stabbed him in the heart. Mother, I hope he hates me. I hope he runs far, far away from here and never comes back. It's the only way he'll be safe.

The last entry was dated five years later.

Mother, I know I am writing after so many months, as I didn't have the courage.

I lost all hope. My life has been hell after hell.

Every other day, Father forced me into a marriage, and the never-ending remorse... but today is different. A hope has come to me. Eric and my child is born. She is so beautiful. The same eyes, the same nose, just like him.

Mother, I promise I will change for her. And yes, pray for Eric, wherever he is.

After turning couple of pages,

Mother, today is the fifth birthday of my daughter. Give us your blessing.

The diary pages ended there.

The leather-bound book slipped from Eric's trembling fingers, falling to the dirt with a soft thud.