Misunderstood Villain: Heroines Mourn My Death
Chapter 324: The Girl Who Slipped Through Time

Chapter 324: The Girl Who Slipped Through Time

***

{Inside The Projection}

The night dripped slow.

Candles spat smoke, and winds hissed between window panes.

In the corner of a somewhat dark chamber, sat a shirtless Malik.

He was on a woven mat, his legs crossed, golden marks trailing along his spine.

His body steamed faintly, his Aether circulating deep within, pulsing furiously, a beast locked in iron.

There was blood on his lips again.

Malik wiped it off, then reached for the sealed scroll that had been delivered earlier that evening by Basim, the one he had tail Roya.

He peeled it open and began to read:

{Target has further expanded her network.

She now operates under three shifting aliases.

Her new alias is now the Broker.

Leader of a minor information cell based out of Lower Djamrah.

Smuggles Scrolls, maps, and coded documents through student supplies.

Buyers unknown. Confirmed trade with Banu Hayaat and the Kamarjin Faction.

Odd detail. One document decoded by our scribe mentioned a battle at Al-Qirat... but it hasn’t happened yet. According to historical records, the battle should be an impossibility, and no tensions were detected when we combed over the place, but she acted as if it were guaranteed, leveraging much of her resources in that whole region.

Alone, such a detail could be overlooked, but after rechecking, we’re starting to see a pattern.

Another document named the collapse of the Grand Well in Thuluth... a day before it occurred.

Information appears prophetic. And she’s not bothering to hide it anymore.

Either the target is using undocumented Holy Relics from Al-Fawra or Zawaya... or she knows what’s coming.

Last note: Perhaps she has the help of a Seer, like that Oracle you told us about. Should we look into it? It’s getting harder now to keep track of her; she’s gaining experience at a rapid rate. I’m afraid we won’t be able to keep this up long.}_{fr\(e)ew(e)b.(n)o (v)(e)l.com}

Malik folded the scroll.

Tight.

Tighter.

It crunched in his palm.

And suddenly, it began to burn a bright gold.

Only ashes remained, and even they didn’t hold matter for long, disappearing into nothingness, defying every law of physics.

His eyes didn’t move from his now-empty hands.

But something behind them did.

A slow, heavy burn, not of anger.

Recognition.

Recognition of what this was.

No one other than him would’ve thought of this.

But he immediately realized it.

Standing up, he walked to a mirror embedded in the far wall.

He looked into it.

His face didn’t appear.

But hers did.

Roya.

Dressed in black.

Her face stared at him.

Malik knew that look.

He’d worn it too.

"...She’s traveled back in time."

***

{Outside The Projection}

Oh... Wow.

Like hungry chicks awaiting food, the crowd in the hall—no, the entire world—stared at the projection with mouths agape.

Words didn’t come, only great shock.

What... what the actual fuck did they just hear?

...They could not believe it.

Was... was this true?

How?

So Malik wasn’t the only enigma?

Zafar wasn’t the only one with that coalition-ending secret?

Roya too?

They knew that it’d be bad, Noor’s too, but not this...

Definitely not this...

She... she—

"She traveled back in time."

SHE TRAVELED BACK IN TIME?!

It hit like a rock to the teeth.

Who the fuck were their leaders?!

Who had they followed?

How dumb were they to follow them?

Forget "information broker," she had seen everything before it even happened.

She didn’t only gather intelligence; she remembered it. Yes... she remembered it all.

Roya knew everything that’d happen because she had already seen it happen!

Suddenly, everything made sense... and nothing made sense.

All her wars...

All her plans...

All she did behind the scenes...

It was all done by someone else.

Her most impressive achievements were stolen.

Stolen from those who initially achieved them in her past.

THE information broker? Ha!

LIES.

Everything they were told about her was a lie!

Every single thing she said about Malik could’ve been a grudge carried from another lifetime.

And now they all knew...

Roya was a fake.

Nothing but a Goddamned fraud!

Whatever reaction they had for the time skip was forgotten.

Malik’s new abilities? They already knew of them. The formation of the yes-men? Who cared? Noor being a Blessed? That was expected. Malik’s control of everything Roya did? Expected too... though they were surprised by the way he did it, finding him incredibly smart. He so easily trapped her in that cage without her even knowing. It was to the point where they believed they had seen the origin of what they could only call an inferiority complex.

The reason she constantly opposed her professor was because he killed her in some timeline that no longer mattered, and now that she had found nothing truly useful about him, her goal of assassinating him was ruined. But of course, and so incredibly begrudgingly, hilariously, and ironically, she grew to greatly respect Malik. However, unfortunately for her, it wasn’t reciprocated. Due to how he interacted with her and how little he ultimately cared about her, her ego was crushed, at least in regards to him. It made her feel inferior, which naturally caused her mind to raise him up on a pedestal. Things didn’t end there, because with each failed attempt to have him acknowledge her efforts, his pedestal had only grown taller.

Roya had grown to be a professor’s pet! As did the rest... for a while at least, following the most brutal training methods.

Ones that, in all fairness, had achievied great results.

It was all so interesting, and honestly, what happened after was something the crowd expected, especially when considering their personalities.

And though it was nice seeing how their rise came about, now all that was on their minds was this.

The reaction was instant.

Whispers of people turning to one another with wild eyes.

Even her own camp looked at her like they’d just been stabbed in the back.

She had secrets... that they knew, everyone did, but this?

This disaster of a revelation?