You might have thought that first thing Alex would do after waking up in a creepy abandoned castle due to explosions and crazy laughing would be going out and checking it all out, right? That what they always do, after all.

Protagonists of horror stories, I mean.

Well, thankfully, she was smarter than that, she...

.... Oh, who am I kidding, she totally stood up and left the room after waiting for mere two minutes.

As much as staying in the study seemed like a safe choice, ultimately, there wasn’t even a lock on a door, and the only source of light was herself.

Granted, she really didn’t need it right now, now that her eyes adapted to the darkness after a period of laying in the it and trying to fall asleep, but it still felt nicer to have one in such situation.

The fact that crazy laughing seemed to be getting closer wasn’t helping.

Alex quietly opened the door and peeked into the shadowy corridor. Nothing seemed to be in the direct vicinity, but after waiting for a few seconds she opened the door fully, stepped one step outside, froze, and returned back into the room. Picking up a heavy tome from the shelf with the boring title “Obligatory math textbook for middle schoolers by Dr. A. L. Zebra” she took a deep breath and left the room again with fortified confidence.

Although heavy textbook might have been not the most efficient weapon, that was all she could find, unless she planned on throwing quills at people like some sort of magician or ninja.

Meanwhile, laughter in the background changed into an angry rant, responded by another, younger voice.

Alex was not sure what they were talking about, but having someone in the opposite camp from the “cheerful” villain presented a good opportunity to find an exit from her current predicament.

Having any people around at all was already useful in her situation, but Alex preferred to ask questions from someone she was sure was not going to murder her without any particular reason. She was still confident to try - after all, her dreams never put her into a truly dangerous situation before, but expecting everything to magically resolve itself was not very immersive nor exciting experience.

Either way, as she got closer, she noticed few additional voices joining into the conversation, although echo was making it pretty hard to understand what exactly they were talking about.

Surprisingly, the action seemed to take place all the way back in the throne room that she appeared earlier in, and she stopped right near the entrance, intending to spy on the people inside first, before taking any actions. After all, what idiot would just barge in-

“Who dares to spy on us?!”

"Well, there goes my plan." Thought Alex while blue magic aura covered her completely and dragged her into the room right in front of the shouting villain.

Alex did not have any time to think of a smartass line, as she was hanged in the air before the black-skinned woman with an incredibly wavy hair and intensely stared at.

I don’t mean black-skinned as you would talk about human; I mean literally, as if she was dunked into a pool of paint, except color did not seemed to be artificial in any way. Skin aside, her hair was wavy in the unconventional way as well: it was straight, yet it also was constantly moving in the air, as if she was a heroine of the love story when male lead sees her first time. Yeah, I’m talking about wind in the hair, except slowly, as though underwater. On top of that, her hair seemed to have glitter in it, as it looked like a sky filled with twinkling little stars.

Oh, also she had fangs and draconic demon eyes. You know, usual stuff. Villain must have. Moving on...

As much as Alex was shocked to be suddenly kidnapped from her little hiding spot, the villainess seemed to be shocked more. She looked at Alex stupefied.

As much as she wanted to ask her what was so shocking about her humble persona, Alex wasn’t going to watch gifted horse in the mouth. Without thinking twice, she lifted heavy book in her hands and smashed the villainess over the head.

*Thump *

Thankfully, latter did not expect such a cunning move from the person in front of her, and immediately ragdolled her way to the ground.

Taking a sigh of relief, Alex calmed herself after taking a look on a fainted woman, and turned to the people behind her, who seemed to be in trouble before her timely “help”.

“Now, now, no need to thank me, I know that it was an incredible performance, but I just need to ask you... Some ... Questions ...”

Alex nearly dislocated her jaw at the sight of six teenage girls flying in the air and shining light from their eyes like a dozen spotlights. Purple-haired girl was talking something about elements of harmony and stuff, but Alex did not pay this any attention.

Now, flying wasn't the thing that got her so shocked. They were charging some sort of super attack! In her direction!

“Ahh, girls? Can you stop? Please?” She called out. "The fight is over! I won! Hey!”

Sadly, they did not seem to be able to hear or see anything right now. Which was understandable, considering that their eyes turned literally white, and they generated a powerful hum like an industrial fridge array.

Alex immediately darted out of the way only to smack her face into the invisible barrier. The darn spell had restricted her in place!

As much as she wanted to be able to smack the girls over the head as well, the barrier prevented that easy solution. She also didn't want to leave any girl with a concussion. (And not because she couldn't reach them in the air, obviously.)

Attack was incoming, so there wasn’t much choice in the matter. Alex squeezed her teeth, and dived under the laying villainess on the floor.

She was so conveniently lying here, might as well serve some good purpose for once.

Rainbow beam smashed into both woman moments later, mostly blocked by the black woman’s body. Nevertheless, quite a few rays hit Alex as well, and she felt them scolding her skin like a boiling water.

Something deep inside her seemed to respond negatively to the abuse, however, and soon a new source of heat, like a gushing river seemed to explode from her chest and out through the horn.

The fact that villainess’s body was shrinking wasn’t helping.

Time seemed to go on forever, at least for the first five seconds. After that, beam started to run out and, feeling seriously weakened, but still pretty much alive, Alex dared to open her eyes.

Her sight was greeted by a group of girls staring at her in a deep shock. She also spotted another girl lying in front of her, where black-colored woman was before.

Everything else seemed to be fine, until flickering outside of her field of vision attracted her attention.

“Hey! You set my hair on fire!”

With that, classy looking girl with a curly purple hair fainted.

Author's Note

Two chapters in, and we hadn't even got her to speak with someone!
What a shock.
Well, next chapter she will be speaking alright.
Next chapter is where the stuff finally begins.
...I guess?