A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 199

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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199.

The vicinity of Caspian Gorge had already descended into something indistinguishable from war.
The Awakeners who arrived first were locked in combat with Monsters, while the sky—torn open in ragged patches—poured down Magi in massive chunks as though vomiting filth itself.
Below the gorge, the devastation was far worse.
Beneath the thick blanket of Magi, dozens of Gates both large and small clustered densely along the river’s length, each erupting in deafening explosions.
Some collided with those spawning beside them and vanished, while others absorbed them like black holes, forming even larger voids.
‘So they can merge like that.’
I had never truly grasped what it meant to combine dimensions, but now I understood instantly.
Gates were being absorbed into one another like black holes.
Though what chaos might unfold within them remained unknowable…
The collisions between Gates blazed not only in crimson flame but in a full spectrum of light.
From a distance, the sight resembled nothing so much as a galaxy itself, and I found myself momentarily transfixed.
‘That must be the Gate Wave.’
If such a phenomenon were to spread beyond the gorge across the entire Empire, it would be nothing short of hell itself.
Or perhaps it was already too late.
I tore my gaze from the gorge below and looked up at the sky with anxious eyes.
Compared to the gorge beneath—where Gates clustered so densely they triggered acrophobia—the openings in the sky were spaced considerably apart.
I hadn’t counted them individually, but it seemed they hadn’t yet exceeded single digits.
Of course, the situation was already apocalyptic enough, but at least the Gates weren’t yet colliding and detonating en masse.
Yet I could instinctively sense this was merely a matter of time.
‘I have to find Sephiroth and stop her immediately.’
Unlike the Gate Wave, every Gate spawned in the sky was undoubtedly her doing.
Now I finally grasped what she was attempting.
To spread beyond the gorge and blanket the world itself in Gate Waves.
It was nothing less than a suicide attack—a mutual annihilation.
‘Where is she? Where is Ruellin? Did she follow knowing all this?’
In the moment I was scanning the surroundings with sharp, narrowed eyes.
“She’s over there.”
The hand clasping mine fluttered gently, as though rousing me from a daze.
I lifted my head abruptly.
Serge held up his interlaced fingers, his expression more serious than I had ever seen it.
“You haven’t forgotten the promise you made me.”
Only then did I realize I was still holding hands with him, our fingers intertwined.
‘When did he even interlock them?’
I tried to pull my hand away hastily, but he wouldn’t release it.
Instead, his eyes returned with a hint of suspicion.
“What scheme are you plotting that you won’t answer? You’re always up to something. I’m sending you back right now.”
“Stop nagging me.”
What scheming, what scheming indeed.
I was only just beginning to grasp how dire the situation truly was.
As I waved my hand irritably, he reluctantly released his iron grip.
Shaking out my hand, I immediately walked in the direction his subordinates were leading.
It was a place where two massive boulders lay embedded side by side.
Surrounded by thick, ancient trees, it resembled nothing so much as a small fortress.
‘In such a short time, they managed to find a place like this.’
I thought this as I was practically pushed into the crevice between the rocks by the surrounding knights.
The fact that the trees hadn’t been swept away in this chaos suggested it truly was a safe zone.
Though in a calamity like this, where could one truly call safe?
Serge only turned away once he confirmed I had completely concealed myself within the rocky crevice.
And without hesitation, he threw himself into the horde of monsters.

32%

After yesterday’s purification, his Magi reserves were relatively comfortable, but it was obvious they wouldn’t last long.
Unlike other Awakeners who conserved their strength appropriately, Serge recklessly squandered his abilities without restraint.
He was the type to rampage without anyone to stop him, and with me here now, he would push himself to his absolute limits all the more.
If he wasn’t careful, he might even insist on closing every single Gate here.
Not because he relied on my purification as a shield.
But perhaps, to protect me.
Because he had always been that way, in every moment I had witnessed.
As I watched Serge skillfully slaughter the monsters before him, I spotted familiar faces not far away.
Dylan and Vincent.

35% 68%

The magical barriers between the two were quite sharp and defined.
Since I’d only briefly touched upon them to shake off pursuit after escaping the Grand Duke House, it was only natural that Vincent’s readings were in such a state.
“…Still, he’s earning his keep, I suppose.”
Dylan would be one thing, but honestly, Vincent arriving first was somewhat unexpected.
I’d thought he would dawdle with one excuse after another.
It was then that an ominous premonition struck me—that I might need to purify Vincent before even finding Sephiroth.
Craaaaaash―!
Suddenly, a brilliant flash erupted from the mountainside below where the fierce clash with the monster was occurring.
“Hyaaaaa―!”
“Attack!”
“Give your lives for the Empire’s peace and glory!”
A group of Awakeners came rushing forward in a torrent.
It seemed reinforcements had just arrived.
Among them, I spotted another familiar face, and my eyes widened.
‘Father…?’
It was the Duke.
All the Awakeners were supposed to gather at the Imperial Palace and be teleported sequentially, and it seemed he had finally arrived.
To be honest, when I heard the Duke was mobilizing, I hadn’t been particularly concerned.
He had long since withdrawn from the front lines and wasn’t a high-ranking Awakener particularly skilled in combat.
Of course, he must have fulfilled his duties as an Awakener in his prime, but I understood it had always been merely for show.
Just as the children of high nobility whom he hoped his daughter would resemble—those with modest abilities that wouldn’t draw unwanted attention.
That’s why I had no doubt he would merely pretend to fight behind his retainers.
My biological father had been that way, and all the powerful people I’d seen thus far had been the same.
“Duke! Be careful!”
Yet he now stood at the very front, fighting with desperate determination.
It was nothing like mere performance.
I dimly understood the reason.
Because he had left behind the Purifier—the most crucial asset in this situation—and bore full responsibility for that choice.
Moreover, to protect his daughter waiting safely at home.
“You should withdraw further.”
A knight stopped me as I craned my neck to watch the Duke, apparently concerned for my safety.
I obediently retreated and hid my body behind a rock.
If the Duke discovered I was here, all hell would break loose.
The Duke, Dylan, and Vincent alike would all react the same way.
They would all surround me and raise a commotion trying to protect me at any cost.
As for Serge, who had threatened to send me back at the slightest problem, there was no need to mention him.
Rumble rumble rumble, Craaaash―!
Just then, with a deafening roar that seemed to split the heavens and earth, another rift opened in the sky.
The mad cult leader had opened a new Gate.
Thump thump thump thump thump thump….
The ground beneath my feet trembled violently, and a gale of cutting wind swept through.
Screams echoed from all directions.
Even I, standing between solid rocks, couldn’t maintain my footing and staggered.
“Be careful!”
Serge’s subordinates immediately formed a line in front of me, shielding me from the tempest.
The fortunate part was that unlike a typical Gate manifestation that would suck in everything around it,
though I wasn’t entirely certain, it seemed to be the influence of the Gate Wave below the gorge.
With gravitational forces pulling from both sky and earth, ironically the opposing forces maintained the status quo like repulsion.
But I knew that if the balance shifted even slightly, I would be swallowed whole without a chance to resist.
‘At this rate, the mountain will collapse.’
Gripping the rock tightly as the ominous tremors continued, I anxiously gnawed at my lip.
‘I have to find Sephiroth right now.’
Unfortunately for Serge, who was so determined to exclude me, evading the Awakeners who served as my guard was surprisingly easy for me.
I would stop Sephiroth no matter what.
I had just made that decision.
It wasn’t as though I had grown attached to this cursed place.
It was still horrifying and utterly repugnant.
And yet, I simply could not.
I simply could not turn away.
The Duke who threw himself into the fray seeking atonement, and the man who knelt and begged me not to leave.
Nancy and Eston, who had warmed me with their care so I wouldn’t feel alone in this desolate place.
And everyone else from the Duke’s Household.
‘Where could he be? He must be somewhere nearby.’
I was searching for a place where Sephiroth might be hiding, my eyes wide and sharp with cold determination.
Uuuuuuung―
Suddenly, the bag at my waist vibrated.
I glanced down to see a faint light seeping through the gaps in the bag.
Of the two items I had brought, only one could emit light.
I quietly retrieved the crystal sphere from my bag, hidden from the knights standing in front of me.
Then the light flowing from the crystal sphere shot in one direction, as if showing me the way.
And within it, a scene rippling like a phantom.
Instead of the pitch-black abyss that always appeared, a dim, cave-like space.
And at the far end, the back of a woman with golden hair identical to Ruellin’s, displayed blurrily like a low-quality CCTV feed.
“…Found her.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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