A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 214

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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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214.

This was the second declaration of severing ties I’d heard from Vincent.
No, this wasn’t merely about cutting off our relationship.
He was asking us to become complete strangers, erasing everything that had ever happened between us—even the childhood memories I shared with Edith Blake.
It was undoubtedly something I’d desperately wished for.
And yet.
“….”
For some reason, an easy affirmation wouldn’t come to my lips.
Perhaps it was because he’d said such things while trying to help me in his own way, only to end up pierced through by a spear and dying before my eyes.
‘…What on earth am I supposed to do about him?’
The real problem was me, fundamentally.
My predicament was that I couldn’t sever ties completely due to some misplaced compassion, nor could I give him what he truly desired.
‘For now… later. Let me recover my body and think about this when I have a clear mind. He’s not in his right mind either, after all.’
In the end, I said nothing and evaded the matter by using my physical condition as an excuse.

***

Beneath the Gate remained a chaotic battlefield.
Masses of humans and monsters that had fallen from another dimension were tangled together in fierce combat, while the Awakeners kept their distance and launched occasional area-wide attacks.

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Remarkably, Vincent managed to hold on without succumbing to the rampage.
The moment I set him down gently on the slope where the Awakeners had gathered, he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“V-Vincent!”
I caught him in alarm, then froze.
Vincent’s body was abnormally hot to the touch.
During our flight, his body had cooled noticeably, so I hadn’t noticed until now.
Just as I managed to lay him down on the ground, the Healer from Marquis Leandro’s Residence came rushing over.
“Oh my! Young master! How on earth did you sustain such a grave injury…!”
The white-haired elderly man immediately began his healing work.
As I finally allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Edith Blake!”
A thunderous roar struck me like lightning.
I lifted my head sharply to see the Duke, his arm in a cast, rushing toward me with a terrifying expression.
“F-Father.”
“Did I not tell you to remain at home? What were you thinking, following me here!”
“That is… well…”
I was in trouble.
I should have asked Vincent to set me down somewhere farther from the slope.
As I stammered in panic, the Duke seized upon my hesitation like a hawk.
“Have you stopped listening to your father entirely? And if you came, you should have stayed safely tucked away in a corner—what in blazes were you doing being carried off by that man!”
“D-Duke! Please, calm yourself!”
Unexpectedly, it was the Aide who came to my rescue.
“The young lady’s condition is dire, is it not? Perhaps it would be best to treat her wounds first before administering your rebuke…”
“What?!”
At Langton’s words, the Duke finally scrutinized me carefully.
His eyes widened in shock when his gaze fell upon my calf, which was soaked with blood.
“You… you! Why is your leg like that! How did you sustain such a terrible wound? Who did this to you!”
“Father.”
“This isn’t a wound from a monster. Was it him? Was it that cursed Marquis Leandro who dared draw a blade against you?!”
“N-No! That’s not it at all. Vincent would never do such a thing to me.”
“Then why is there so much blood! You’ve always been such a crybaby, but this… *chokes*…”
Though it wasn’t a mortal wound, the Duke’s face had gone ashen as he fidgeted helplessly.
As I grew alarmed at the sight of tears glistening in his eyes.
“Healer! Langton, fetch the Healer at once!”
He thrashed about again, searching frantically for the Healer.
At his command, Langton dashed off with impressive speed.
Moments later.
Somehow he had managed to bring back a Healer from another family.
As the warm light emanating from the Healer seeped into my wound, the pain quickly subsided.
“The wound is quite deep, so complete healing will be difficult at this moment. I’ve sealed it as best I can to prevent pain, but you must avoid any strenuous movement…”
“Tsk, is that all you can manage?”
The Duke clicked his tongue in displeasure as he examined my calf, marked with angry red welts.
“I should have brought Eston with me if I’d known it would come to this….”
Well, I doubted Eston would have made much difference.
Besides, I was already receiving aid from another family’s Healer—I should be grateful for that much.
“Father, please help me up.”
I hastily redirected the Duke’s attention and discreetly sent the Healer away.
Though he grumbled, the Duke supported me with surprisingly gentle hands.
I could have managed alone, but I deliberately leaned on him as I rose, then cautiously tested my right leg.
‘Oh.’
The Healer was quite skilled—I felt no pain whatsoever.
There was a slight tingling sensation, but nothing that would impede walking.
‘I should probably have Eston treat the other wounds in secret.’
Fortunately, thanks to the loose robe concealing me, the Duke seemed unaware of the scars covering my body.
That was a mercy, at least.
Then it happened.
Rummmmmble—!
A sinister roar suddenly tore through the sky.
I reflexively looked up to witness something unbelievable unfolding overhead.
Boom, rummmble!
Accompanied by thunder that shook the entire world, the gaping abyss convulsed.
It wasn’t another Gate being absorbed.
Rather….
“The Gate… the Gate is closing.”
Someone nearby whispered the words in a trembling voice.
They were right.
The Gate, vast enough to swallow the earth itself, was rapidly contracting.
As everyone held their breath in awe at this impossible miracle,
my face twisted with emotion.
‘…He succeeded.’
That man had closed the Gate.
He had accomplished what seemed impossible.
I should have been overjoyed, relieved.
Yet why did I feel tears threatening to spill?
‘…He couldn’t possibly be in good condition.’
The rampage could be purified away easily enough.
The crucial point was that he had undertaken this mad feat entirely alone, without a single other Awakener to cover his flank.
While pushing back the cascading otherworldly structures—the buildings and all—and closing the Gate, there was no way he could have fended off every Monster and human mass pouring through.
The realization struck like a blade, and a sharp pain pierced my chest.
Rummmble….
In the meantime, the circular Gate that had been steadily shrinking had now transformed into an elongated ellipse.
The ellipse grew narrower and narrower, becoming a long fissure, then a crack, then a line….
Kuuuuung―
At last, with a heavy rumble, it vanished as if it had never existed.
A shaft of sunlight streamed down from the clear sky.
“It’s gone!”
“Waaaah―!”
The people cheered.
Though smaller Gates still remained, the mere disappearance of the largest and most terrifying one was enough for everyone to set aside their worries and smile broadly.
Among them, I alone scanned the empty sky with a rigid expression.
“Screeeech―!”
In that moment, I heard a monster’s death cry from somewhere.
I spotted a form tumbling rapidly as it burst from the clouds.
‘…Serge.’
Though the distance made it difficult to see clearly, I could be certain.
Of who was falling alongside the monster.
I immediately ran toward him.
Or rather, the instant I tried to run.
“W-wait, Edith Blake! Where are you going?”
The Duke suddenly grabbed me as I was about to dash away.
“Didn’t you hear what the Healer said? You’re to avoid any strenuous movement….”
“I, I have to go, Father.”
“No, where exactly are you―Edith Blake! Child, Edith Blake!”
There was no time to argue further.
Though I felt sorry for the Duke’s concern, I roughly wrenched my hand from his grasp and turned to run.
Throwing myself into that hellish tangle of monster swarms and creatures was nothing short of madness.
And with a body that wasn’t even whole.
“M-my lady!”
“It’s dangerous! Purifier!”
The Awakeners at the front gasped at the sight of me.
Some rushed forward to stop me, just as the Duke had.
But I did not stop.
Moments of danger came repeatedly―nearly struck by a monster’s lashing tail and the outstretched hands of twisted human forms.
I repeated the cycle of barely curling my body and rolling away to evade, then springing back up and running forward, many times over.
Whoooosh―!
“Kyieeeek!”
A large monster blocking the path horizontally was struck by a massive fireball and instantly turned to ash.
It was Dylan’s ability.
But it wasn’t only Dylan.
Monsters threatening me from all directions vanished one by one.
The Awakeners who rushed past were clearing away the obstacles blocking my path.
Bolstered by their aid, I drove my legs harder.
As I nearly crossed the sloping plain, I finally caught sight of a dark head of hair rising at the cliff’s edge.
“Your Highness!”
At a glance, the man’s condition was utterly dire.
Human figures clung to his shoulders, waist, and legs like barnacles.
Clutching a massive monster’s head—still dripping blood—as if he’d just torn it free.
Whether he hadn’t heard my voice or not, the sight of him standing vacant-eyed, staring into empty space, made my heart plummet.
“Serge―!”
I called out to him again at the top of my lungs.
Thanks to the rapidly closing distance, I could now see clearly even the top of his head.

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As expected, his Magi levels were far beyond capacity.
Though still dormant for now, he would soon lose all reason and rampage like a beast.
Just as I clenched my teeth and stretched out one arm, ready to purify him the moment I reached him—
Suddenly, he turned his head at an angle toward me.
Our eyes met.
The instant I faltered, staring into those hollow, glass-like pupils—
“Gasp!”
An overwhelming pressure seized my entire body in an instant.
My running form froze in place of its own accord.
Arm still outstretched in that same posture.
I couldn’t move a muscle, as if I’d turned to stone.
Struggling and straining against this sudden change, I belatedly realized it was Serge’s telekinetic power at work.
When I lifted my gaze, the man was tilting his head askew, staring at me intently.
His expression utterly indifferent—as if regarding a complete stranger, or an insect he might crush at any moment.
“Ugh.”
And worse still, breathing became increasingly difficult.
It felt as though an invisible claw was slowly strangling my throat.
A wave of despair surged through me.
What had I done to deserve this suffering on legs that hadn’t even healed?
‘Old habits die hard—that ungrateful, despicable bastard!’
But what good was anger toward a man lost to his own rampage?
Resigned, I focused on the hand I’d extended toward him.
Just as I had done with Sephiroth’s husband, I would hurl a fireball.
Scraping together what little strength remained, my palm quickly grew warm.
Fortunately, it seemed I still had enough power to purify one Awakener.
‘Fire!’
I released my ability without hesitation.
“…?”
Yet nothing erupted from my hands.
My palms burned with heat, suggesting I could fire at least one shot, but——
As I stood bewildered by this inexplicable turn, my throat suddenly tickled.
Before I could stop myself, I coughed violently.
“Hack…!”
But what spilled from my lips was no mere cough—it was a crimson clot of blood.

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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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