The arena was too massive, honestly. It felt less like a school facility and more like a damn arena built to humble whoever stepped inside it. Rows of polished steel seats stretched upward like waves and the floor beneath us gleamed with some kind of reinforced metal.
Verdamona walked beside me. She didn't seem fazed by the size of the place, though I couldn't tell if that was nerves masked by calmness or just straight-up indifference. What I did know was that she stood out, even among the Noble Fluxers.
She wasn't part of one. She was just a Commoner Fluxer. Verdamona shouldn't have drawn attention, but she did for two very obvious reasons:
Her beauty and her Flux.
Her looks are self-explanatory. Transmigrators hovered around her like moths to a flame, desperate to trigger flags or unlock their precious routes. That had to be why she already had stalkers and admirers trailing behind her.
The second reason was her Flux but that's not really much of an advantage until later on.
I should have expected the stares when we walked in together, but still, the ripple through the arena caught me off guard. Then, before we could even look around, I saw Thales Erdict.
He stood dead center on the sparring platform, his hands clasped behind his back like he owned the place. He had platinum hair, platinum eyes and a posture so perfect it hurt to look at. He was maybe ten to fifteen centimeters shorter than me, but height didn't matter when your presence felt like a blade drawn across stone. In MoDS, Thales was a prodigy wrapped in noble etiquette, the Prince Charming of all love interests. And more importantly, he was Verdamona's first route.
He turned and his eyes locked onto her.
When he spoke, his voice carried across the entire arena like it had been fine-tuned for drama.
"Verdamona Regenis, why are you with a member of one of the Abyssal Houses?"
Whispers exploded everywhere. The name Argemenes spread like wildfire. Verdamona looked thrown, her brows knitting together. She blinked, then took a small step forward.
"What? You and I literally just met yesterday. I almost fell off the stairs, you caught me, and we talked for a minute. That's it. Why does it matter who I walk with?"
The arena went quiet for a heartbeat then the noise came roaring back. People weren't expecting her to snap like that. But me? I was quiet, because I knew this scene.
This was supposed to be their moment.
In the game, Thales walked across the academy grounds, saw Verdamona slip, caught her, and smiled. She blushed, he smirked... just know it was a textbook meet-cute. That was the spark that started his route. Love at first sight to specify it deeply. But right now? She wasn't soft or shy. She was pissed. Her confusion wasn't the fluttery kind. It was genuine irritation, like she couldn't even process why this guy was trying to control her choices.
I looked at Thales. His face barely moved but I caught the flicker in his eyes. And that's when the panic hit. Why was this different? Why was she pushing back instead of following the script?
I didn't say anything, though. This was dangerous. Every move I made here had consequences. But one thing was clear. The story was already off the rails and I was standing right in the middle of it.
Then Thales opened his mouth again, and I knew he was about to make it worse.
"Phasnovterich Argemenes. Do none of you realize who you're standing next to?"
Here we go...
"He's from House Argemenes, the strongest of the four Abyssal Houses. Their history is nothing but cruelty. Their legacy leaves nothing but sin. They experiment with Fluviums on outsiders, on innocents and even on themselves. Their hands are stained with lives that can never be reclaimed."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Thales stepped closer to Verdamona, as if to "protect" her.
"You shouldn't be near him. He's dangerous,.same with his sister."
Me? I rolled my eyes. Hard.
He wasn't wrong. The Argemenes were monsters. That was canon. But this wasn't really my body. I didn't torture anyone or run twisted experiments. I just got unlucky enough to wake up as Phasnovterich Vecria Argemenes. Still, that didn't matter to anyone here. Everyone watched Verdamona, waiting for her response. And when she finally looked up, her expression changed.
Her warmth was completely gone. It threw me off, and judging by the flicker in Thales's eyes, it threw him too.
"Why do you care? I asked you a question, and you haven't even answered it. So what is this, Thales? Should I stay close to you instead because you're from a Radiance House? Oh, right, your bloodline makes you pure and kind compared to him."
Thales opened his mouth but no sound came out. The golden boy was speechless. Verdamona didn't wait for him to recover.
"Leave the arena if you're not here to practice. You're ruining training for everyone else."
The silence that followed was so sharp it almost hurt. She then turned to me, her tone softening just a little.
"You ready?"
I shrugged, trying to play it cool even though my mind was a mess.
"Yeah."
Then I looked at Thales and let out a low, deliberate scoff.
"He's not wrong, you know. I am dangerous. I don't care if people live or die, as long as it benefits me. That's how I was raised. That's the only way I know how to be. I'm bad, apathetic, and selfish."
The audience gasped. Thales's jaw tightened, but I didn't stop.
"But guess what? I didn't ask to be born into the Argemenes. I didn't ask for this bloodline or reputation. And who says people like me don't have emotions? Who says I can't choose who I'm friends with? At least she doesn't care where I come from. And maybe you should worry less about who she walks with and more about yourself. You've known her for, what, a day? Talked for five minutes? That's hardly enough to stake a claim, don't you think?"
His jaw flexed but he stayed quiet. At that moment, I knew.
The plot had officially changed.
In MoDS, this was supposed to be Thales's start of his route. He was meant to sweep in as the noble savior, earn her admiration, and walk off into the next event together. But Verdamona just ripped that flag in half and I ground it into the dirt.
Good. That was the plan.
There are three reasons I stuck close to her. First is survival. The heroine is always the eye of the storm in MoDS. Get close, live longer. Simple math. Second, information. The game never showed everything. There were hidden pieces, secret lore or things buried under routes. If anyone's thread led to the truth, it was hers.
And third—a personal reason—I always hated how the story went.
In the game, Verdamona started strong. She grew stronger and better but the more she got entangled with her five love interests, the dimmer she became. Her story got eaten alive by theirs. They grew and triumphed and she faded into the background of her own damn tale.
Not this time. Not while I was here.
I already wrecked the plot by meeting her early. Now, I just shredded Thales's opening act. This time, she wasn't going to fade. She was going to burn, even if it meant rewriting the ending myself.
Maybe that's why I ended up in the villainess's brother's body in the first place.