A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 209

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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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209.

I lifted one corner of my mouth and offered her an irritatingly smug smile.
The smile that had been drawn across Sephiroth’s face vanished as if wiped clean.
She stared at me in silence for a moment, then lowered her head and exhaled a sigh.
“Ha….”
“….”
“And now even a pathetic little mouse of a woman dares to defy me….”
The low curses that burrowed into my ears made me reflexively twitch my hand.
Sephiroth then lifted her lowered head and stared directly at me.
“Do you think you’re something special? Because I’ve been treating you with a smile, you think you’re holding some grand hand?”
“No.”
I shot back without letting any panic show on my face.
“I told you already. I’m still deciding whether to buy time until the barrier disappears or to break through it.”
I didn’t know how long the stolen ability would last, but even so, hadn’t I managed to drag this out quite a while?
‘Even if there’s still a long way to go, if I just keep pouring it on, something will work out eventually.’
I stretched out both arms that had been hanging loosely at my sides.
At my gesture signaling the breakdown of negotiations, the woman spoke in a flat tone.
“Then it can’t be helped.”
“….”
“I’ll have to acquire it through somewhat violent means.”
The one who had just declared she would extort another’s blood suddenly bent forward at the waist.
‘Purification Beam!’
I responded immediately.
Whoooosh― Boom!
A pair of emerald rays shot straight from both my palms and struck the barrier once more.
Sssssss….
The light that still couldn’t penetrate the curtain scattered in the air like discarded sparks.
But it wasn’t entirely meaningless.

942%
941%
939%

Surprisingly, the creature’s magical barrier began to weaken.
The decrease was far more gradual than before, but it was affecting its barrier nonetheless.
It meant the defensive ability was losing its potency.
‘More, more!’
Perhaps because I had poured all my concentration into the dropping barrier and ability output.
I failed to see what it did when it bent its waist.
A critical mistake.
“…Do you really think all that effort will change anything?”
The blade’s edge reflected in the blue flames gleamed with an icy sheen.
What it held was a dagger with a razor-sharp edge.
Likely the very blade that had severed the blood vessels of Ethan and the other Awakeners.
The moment I recognized it, the creature charged directly at my beam with ferocious speed.
“You think a mere purification like that could kill a Dragon?!”
“Ugh!”
Whoosh―!
The creature, closing the distance in an instant, swung its blade without hesitation.
I stumbled backward in shock.
In doing so, the beam that had been relentlessly pecking at my barrier shot off in the wrong direction, but I had no time to worry about that.
“Stupid woman. If you wanted to kill me, you should have faced Ruellin outside instead of crawling in here.”
“Haa!”
“Mages can survive without hearts—and you don’t even know that, you fool!”
Whoosh, whoosh!
The creature danced with its blade like a madman.
Caught off guard by the close combat, I could only desperately dodge, unable to mount any counterattack.
As my concentration shattered, the purification beam that had been pouring forth with momentum quickly weakened and then cut off entirely.
Having lost my only reliable defense, I could only endure the onslaught helplessly.
‘Damn it. I should have brought a weapon.’
The creature that always hid behind its barrier, mockingly laughing at the Awakeners, was actually engaging in close combat.
I couldn’t say for certain, but it seemed quite skilled with the blade.
Even though it appeared to swing carelessly, it was deliberately avoiding delivering fatal wounds.
“Ugh!”
The carefully controlled dagger tore through my garments in long slashes.
Naturally, the flesh beneath suffered the same fate.
Though not deeply cut, a stinging pain erupted simultaneously wherever the blade grazed.
‘This won’t do.’
At this rate, my entire body would be covered in scratches.
Narrowly dodging another incoming blade, I spun around and bolted away.
My intention was to create distance between myself and the creature.
‘Should I call Vincent?’
The moment I turned toward the entrance, wondering what Vincent was doing and why he refused to enter the cave, I realized something.
Whiiiish―! Thwack!
Without warning, fire erupted across my right calf.
“Aaaahhh!”
The searing agony sent me crashing to the ground helplessly.
“Ugh….”
When I turned my head, I saw the hilt of a dagger embedded in my calf.
That madman had thrown a blade and struck true.
“Hnngh…!”
The excruciating pain—unlike anything I’d ever experienced—and the surreal nature of the wound drained all color from my vision.
Step, step.
While I lay there helpless and dazed, Sephiroth approached with leisurely strides.
“Ah, what a shame….”
Watching blood trickle from the gap around the embedded blade, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“Don’t waste your strength. Just stay still.”
Then he reached out and seized my uninjured ankle.
Screeeech, screeeeech―
He dragged me toward the Altar.
The pain radiating from my right calf left me no strength to resist his iron grip.
‘How pathetic.’
A familiar helplessness crushed down upon me.
Instead of lamenting that I hadn’t awakened as a powerful offensive ability user like the male leads, I should have at least learned self-defense.
Unable to even protect myself, what was I thinking living so carelessly in this lawless world?
‘Damn it.’
Frustration, resentment, and unbearable pain consumed me.
Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
Yet I gritted my teeth and raised both arms again.
They were cut and scraped, but they still functioned.
‘Purification.’
Whoooosh―!
The beam erupted from my palms once more.
Even in this state—stabbed and being dragged—I could still manage this much.
As he said, even if I reached 0%, there was no guarantee he would die.
‘In fact, I’ll probably die first.’
It was foolish and pathetic beyond measure.
Yet even as I derided myself, I couldn’t bring myself to give up.
Uuuuuung―
But then, in that very moment.
The barrier that had barely budged began to tremble violently.
And moreover.

937%
930%
922%

The rate of decline had indeed grown steeper than before.
The barrier’s efficacy was waning.
“Tsk, I told you it’s useless.”
Sephiroth glanced back at me with a derisive snort.
It didn’t matter.
I hadn’t come here with the intention of killing him in the first place.
‘All I need to do is prevent him from opening any more Gates.’
But he was the only one capable of landing an effective blow against him.
The only one who could nullify his ability.
That was all.
Thud!
In that moment, Sephiroth finally reached the Altar and hurled my ankle down as though discarding a piece of refuse.
“Gruuuk, krrrooak….”
Above the pool of blood not far away, the upper half of a creature writhed in welcome of its new prey.
“Just wait a moment, my love. I’ll make you whole again soon.”
Sephiroth approached it at once, bent down, and pressed his lips against that repugnant corpse.

901%
890%
888%

The Magic Barrier’s numerical value continued to erode at an ever-accelerating rate, yet the creature seemed utterly indifferent to this deterioration.
The thing that had been spouting affectionate words returned to me, bathed fully in the green beam of light.
And without mercy, it wrenched the blade free from my calf.
“Aaaahhh!”
Sparks erupted before my eyes.
I lurched upright with a convulsive motion, embracing my bleeding leg and whimpering in agony.
The beam cut off once more, but I had no mental capacity left to register such details.
As if mocking me, the creature extended its tongue and licked the blood-stained blade.
And then, with courtesy, it announced what was to come.
“I’m going to pierce your carotid artery now.”
“Hnngh….”
“But if you go into shock, it will become inconvenient for both of us, so please don’t struggle too much.”
“….”
“Of course, I won’t let you die. I’ll treat you properly at the right moment….”
Was this what they meant by “turning calm”?
The face of the woman smiling so radiantly with my blood smeared across her lips was grotesque enough to make any psychopathic killer in a film look tame.
A terror of an entirely different dimension—something I hadn’t felt even when first possessed—came crashing down upon me.
Like a small creature trembling before a predator, I could only gaze up at the thing helplessly.
Whoooosh―!
As the creature raised its dagger to strike at my throat, I frantically clawed at the ground beneath me.
I had meant to throw dirt, but my hand grasped something hard instead.
Without even knowing what it was, I raised it and blocked the attack—not by intention, but by pure survival instinct.
Crack!
A dull sound rang out, and a heavy impact struck my arm.
Having miraculously blocked the attack, I belatedly realized what I was holding: the bag I’d brought with me.
“The Book of Prophecy.”
What the blade had pierced was not my neck, but a thick tome.
I had been so out of my mind that I’d completely forgotten I’d even brought it with me.
“This is….”
Sephiroth tilted her head, equally surprised that I possessed something capable of blocking her blade.
I seized that moment and screamed desperately.
“Wish! Tell me how to kill Sephiroth!”
“What.”
“I’m serious right now, okay? I’m begging with my life on the line, so kill this woman in front of me. Right now!”

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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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