A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Eterna?" Estelle raised a brow at the unknown talker's confusing words.

Everything was nothing, and yet, nothing was everything.

Her brain was almost on the brink of explosion at how this outside component was suddenly added into the fray. Estelle massaged her head lightly to shake off her chaotic state of mind.

"Estelle," The voice once more spoke up, calling her.

"Yes?" Responding, Estelle continued to survey her surroundings. Yet, nothing was there. The voice came out from nothing.

A short link was created. Something that came out of nothing.

Everything meant nothing. But everything came out of nothing. The confusing cycle made Estelle frown.

She went inside the Eterna, although she had a physical body and was a human from a proper dimension. Then, why was she admitted into the Eterna?

Was she, like the anonymous speaker, nothing as well?

Estelle gulped her saliva, struggling to get up due to the dull pain that kept hammering her.

"No," Reading her mind, the voice answered her pressing doubts. "You still have a defined value. Well.. not exactly 'defined', but you are still a being that carries external value with you,"

"You- how could you..?" Estelle had never heard of such a thing as a power to read people's minds, not even in the Surface or the Underworld.

Yes, those types of skills existed in the literary works of her previous life as Reina, but this time was a bit different.

What was the voice? Who did it belong to?

"I am Eterna's Ruler. Whatever happens inside my realm is within my range of knowledge," Once again, the voice replied to her questions.

"Eterna..." Estelle mumbled, thinking that the name didn't ring any bells inside her head. "Could you.. elaborate about this place further?"

Whatever this place was, she ought to compose herself and seek the way out calmly. Else, she would just spiral downwards with a messy mind.

"Well.. for starters, not a single creature that visited Eterna could get out. Because they have all become a denizen of this realm. They cannot simply venture over to another realm, not even through a specialized spell. So that brings me to a question: why are you here?"

"Unable to get out? Would that apply to me, too?" Estelle worried.

She was now in this realm. Could she go back to the Surface? Or would she become another denizen of this 'Eterna'?

"...I wonder the same question," The voice went near and far, circling Estelle with interest.

Estelle jerked, feeling like a thousand eyes' gazes were on her body at the same time. "Why?" She continued pursuing the matter.

"You are not a full-fledged human being, but I can't say that you are qualified to become a denizen of the Eterna. The Eterna holds creatures that have lost their value. To them, everything is worth nothing, and they can get everything from nothingness,"

Nodding, Estelle pursed her lips as she digested the information given to her like a good student.

"For example... let's see, not to mention physique, even the most basic things such as assigned sex does not exist. Genders, races, those menial things do not exist. Eterna is unified because we are one entity in truth,"

"...Such is the law of Eterna, the unending realm," The voice continued explaining.

Estelle lowered her gaze as she stared at the all-white environment. There were no barriers that separated the floor from the ceiling, nor did the realm have walls.

Everything was indeed, nothing.

But she was Estelle. A humanoid figure that now stood within this realm of nothingness. What did it mean?

"But then, comes you, the bearer of a strange power!" The Ruler continued its narration.

By strange power, the Ruler seemed to mean her element, which was outside the constrained realms people knew. The Creation and Destruction were two polar opposites that were separate from the usual realms. This was a stated fact that were established between both realms.

This fact seemed to apply inside the Eterna as well, judging by the Ruler's astonishment.

But then, reading Estelle's mind, the Ruler came to correct her perceptions.

"Ah, no, it's not that the element of Creation is foreign to me, it's that.. you are different from other entities of your origin," Giving a vague line, the Ruler hummed with curiosity.

"Why are you here? Why do you exist? Who are you? You probably want to ask these kinds of questions, but I myself do not possess the sufficient knowledge to answer you," The Ruler said.

Indeed, she had wanted to throw these set of questions to the voice. Unfortunately, before she was even able to obtain some sort of clue, she was rejected.

"Then, how do I go back to my own world.. the Surface?" Estelle inquired.

"The Surface is not connected to the Eterna. Unlike the Surface and its counterpart, the Underworld... the Eterna is a free plane, where.."

"Nothingness rules," Cutting off the Ruler's words, Estelle summarized. This repeated law defined the Eterna.

When summarized, one could say that Eterna revolved around nothing. The void. Deleted existences. Beings that lost their value. Nothingness.

It was a complex statement, but Estelle had an understanding on the matter, albeit unclear and vague.

"Exactly. You're starting to get it," Confirming Estelle's addition to its words, the Ruler made a very light chuckle.

Estelle was assured by the existence of this Ruler. The words they spouted made her know that she was still within the realms of existence.

She didn't become nothing yet.

Perhaps it was because she had experience too much troubles, she became desensitized to new things that were uncalled for sprouting from who knows where.

Estelle sighed. She didn't know what to do now, but she predicted that this was going to become another long journey.

"Will you.. help me until I figure out how to get out of this place? I'm sure that you don't want someone like me intruding inside your domain as well?" Estelle spoke to the Ruler.

"I will do that. I am quite interested in your existence as well, so there's no reason for me to refuse,"

"Then.. once again, my name is Estelle Clareste. To a good cooperation, my guide,"

"...I have no name, but my status is that of the Ruler here. You may address me as you like. To a good cooperation," The Ruler returned the words and replied.

Estelle gave a happy smile, indicating that she was back to her optimized state.

She was not given much time to rest, but the situation didn't allow her such a lax corner as to quit running complicated scenarios in her brain.

There was one large question that she had. One that she experienced firsthand upon going back to the Surface after spending years inside the Underworld.

The time difference.

"Well, first of all, I want to ask. How is the time flow here compared to the Surface?" Estelle asked.

"Hmm... As much as I want to give you a detailed time estimation, the Eterna doesn't have the concept of time. Everything is loosely connected together. If we compare it to the Surface, I guess you could say that the time flow follows each denizen's perception of time,"

Estelle's brow creased, troubled over the Ruler's ambiguous explanation. "You mean to say that.. As long as I manage to brainwash myself that a second in Eterna is one year in the Surface, it would be that way?"

"..Basically, yes. Be careful with it, though. You are not supposed to be here. The reason you are here in the first place was because you exhausted your life force. Any more and you might really lose your value... and become a permanent denizen of the Eterna,"

Estelle gulped in fear, as she imagined not being able to go back to the Surface forever.

"However, the good thing is that you got transported into the outer layers of Eterna. If it was the inner layers, you would have to spare much more life force. Your current remaining life force would be drained in a short minute," The Ruler once more said, giving Estelle an idea of how things worked in the Eterna.

Because the denizens were worth nothing, their life force would not be decreased.

Because they were worth nothing, they could remain here.

But Estelle, who still had a value attached to her had to burn her life force bit by bit in order to stay.

She couldn't do too much, but if she wanted to get out of this place, she had to do much.

Her powers were heightened in a sense, but a cost was applied.

"What will happen if I burn my life force? Will it affect me permanently?"

"Yes, and no. If you want an illustration of what your life force is, it would be like a fire. The bigger, and the more vitality a fire has signifies its strong life force. The closer it is to a small wisp- to the point of depletion.. that would be when your life force can't recover at all,"

[A fire..] Estelle thought.

"Your current state is like a small fire. It would give you enough leniency for certain power outputs, but you won't get to show it all off. I can only say.. be careful as to not burn yourself," The Ruler advised.

It was basically the same concept as when she spent time in the Underworld. She made a resolute resolve. She would overcome this trial like the previous ones she went through.

A small fire. Her chances of going back depended on this fire's livelihood and her ability to utilize it.

She was definitely going to beat this stage of life.

"I got it," Nodding, Estelle asked for the Ruler's helping hand in order to resolve this problem.