Into the Apocalypse: Saving My Favorite Villain-Chapter 96: Darkness

Rosalia — POV

It felt as though my soul was dragged through fire—ripped apart, then stitched back together again, over and over.

The agony was so intense that my vision turned pure white, my ears ringing as if I were standing at the center of a merciless explosion.

I had only placed my hand on him for a few seconds. Only seconds.

And yet the pain carved itself deep into my very existence, branding me with its heat, etching itself into my bones and nerves as if it intended to remain forever.

Every breath scraped my lungs raw.

Every heartbeat felt too loud, too violent, as though my body were protesting my stubborn refusal to let go.

But it was fine.

Wasn’t it?

Hadn’t I felt this kind of pain before, in countless different forms, wearing countless different faces?

Compared to everything I had endured before coming here... this was nothing.

Perhaps for the original heroine—the delicate, sheltered girl who had lived a protected life—this agony would have been enough to break her completely.

She might have collapsed to the ground, trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks as she begged the world, fate, or even the heavens for mercy.

She would have been justified.

Anyone would have.

But who was I?

Pain had been my constant companion since the day I was born.

Neglect, abandonment, despair—they were threads woven tightly into the very fabric of my life.

I had felt hunger gnaw at my stomach while those around me feasted without guilt.

I had felt the cold indifference of those who claimed to care, felt betrayal slice through my heart like a blade sharpened by trust.

I had even faced the excruciating agony of death itself—the sensation of my soul being torn violently from its vessel, as though it were nothing more than a disposable shell.

Compared to that... this pain was bearable.

I could endure it.

I would endure it.

My gaze stayed fixed on Matthew even as his skin slowly regained its natural hue, the sickly corruption retreating like a defeated tide.

I didn’t notice the darkness peeling away like a stubborn shadow. I didn’t notice his face returning to its original form—handsome, sharp-featured, unmistakably human, almost impossibly perfect.

I didn’t notice that his eyes never left me, staring with a fierce intensity that seemed to burn straight through my skin.

I didn’t notice the terrifying aura swelling behind me, pressing against my chest, making it hard to breathe.

I didn’t notice the hurried, echoing footsteps racing toward us, nor the sudden shift in the air, thick with danger and rage.

Not until—

A powerful hand grabbed me.

And violently yanked me backward.

My world spun, my balance shattering in an instant.

Before I could react, before I could even gasp, sharp teeth sank into the back of my neck.

"Aah—!"

The scream tore from me, raw and unrestrained, echoing through the chaos around us.

My entire body convulsed in pain.

I had been completely caught off guard, stripped of any chance to resist.

It hurt.

God, it hurt more than I could have imagined.

Then the teeth clenched harder.

Harder.

Until I felt something hot trickle down my neck. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Blood.

Warm, metallic, terrifyingly real, soaking into my skin and clothes.

And suddenly, the pain was no longer only physical. It was possessive.

Dominating.

Terrifying.

And unmistakably—Cassel’s.

"Cassel... ca—what—"

I couldn’t finish.

A violent tremor seized my body, sparked by searing, burning pain that left my limbs quivering uncontrollably.

I had to acknowledge this truth, no matter how unwilling I was: the pain I had felt earlier when using my own power, and the pain I was enduring now, were not the same.

Different in nature.

Different in purpose.

One was a trial, the other—punishment. One was challa enge, the other—ownership.

Cassel’s bite forced an involuntary gasp from my lips.

My lungs ached as though they were being crushed.

My chest heaved desperately for air that refused to come. I clung weakly to the arms that wrapped around me—chains of flesh and overwhelming strength, unyielding and merciless.

They refused to release me, refused to let me move, refused to grant even the smallest shred of relief.

It was like being helpless prey caught between the fangs of a predator far superior to me.

Powerless.

Defenseless.

The strength that had always coursed through me seemed to evaporate, leaving nothing behind but fear and confusion, a suffocating void where my courage had once been.

My mind struggled desperately to grasp reality, yet all I could feel was the relentless, burning bite, the iron grip of hands I could neither push away nor escape.

My consciousness began to blur, fading slowly, like ink dissolving in water.

"Cassel Zancroft, have you lost your mind?! Get away from her, damn it—you’ll kill her, Cassel!"

Henry’s voice rang through the haze, frantic and panicked, cutting sharply through the chaos.

I could barely comprehend the words, yet the full name—Cassel Zancroft—rang like a hammer striking a bell in my skull. I had never heard Henry call him that before.

Not once.

I must be dreaming.

I had to be.

A dark aura began to curl around me, creeping along the edges of my vision, coiling like living smoke.

It pressed down on my chest like a physical weight, cold and relentless.

I forced my eyes open just enough to see it—a shapeless, swirling blackness consuming the space around Cassel and me.

Every shadow stretched unnaturally, reaching toward us with silent hunger.

Was this another one of Cassel’s powers?

Why hadn’t it been mentioned in the novel? Why hadn’t I seen it before?

"Ca... ssel..."

I whispered his name, a trembling, fragile thread lost within the storm.

My voice sounded distant, alien, barely audible even to myself.

And then darkness swallowed me whole.

No sight.

No sound.

No sense of anything at all.

Just the all-consuming, suffocating void. I was weightless.

Limitless.

Helpless.

Time lost its meaning, stretching and collapsing all at once.

And in that endless black, even the faint echo of Matthew’s recovery, even the faint warmth of Cassel’s presence, was torn away from me.

I was gone.

Lost.

Suspended between moments, between life and whatever this shadow had become.

And still, somewhere deep beneath the fear and pain, a stubborn spark of defiance refused to die.

I would endure.

I had to.

Even if it meant shattering completely.

Even if it meant letting the darkness consume me.

Even if Cassel, in all his terrifying strength and frightening dominance, believed he could claim me entirely—my soul would not break so easily.

Not yet.

Not ever.