A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 60

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

60.

In an instant, the woman’s face was revealed.
“…!”
I held my breath and scrutinized her intently.
Brown hair, deep green eyes.
She bore a striking resemblance to Ruellin, yet….
“Tsk, no.”
Serge suddenly clicked his tongue.
True to his words, while she possessed a superficial similarity, the woman was not Ruellin.
‘Ah.’
An indescribable emotion—relief or disappointment, I could not say—welled up in my chest.
“Oh…!”
The unveiled woman panicked and attempted to pull the hood back over her head.
Yet no matter how hard she tugged, the fabric refused to budge.
A sidelong glance revealed the male lead tilting his head at an angle, as though displeased by something.
It appeared he had used his ability to prevent her from donning the hood again.
“Wahhhhh, it’s The Purifier!”
“The Purifier! The Purifier!”
The cultists erupted in excitement at the sudden revelation of The Purifier’s face.
‘Something feels off.’
The Purifier’s concealed face had been forcibly exposed by an invisible force.
Yet none of the cult officials standing upon the stage appeared alarmed—save for the subject herself.
The reason became clear moments later.
“Behold! The power newly awakened within Brother Anderson! A miracle from Sephirot!”
The Speaker’s voice rang out with fervent intensity.
“It is telekinesis, without question! Brother Anderson has been reborn as an Awakener, defying the infinitesimal odds…!”
“Uooooooh!”
The cultists erupted in unison.
“Oh, Sephirot!”
“This is a miracle! Praise, praise! Praise Sephirot!”
“Congratulations, Brother Raymond!”
“Purifier! Here, here! Please, just once, grant my child this opportunity, Purifier!”
Cries of jubilation, exclamations, and desperate pleas erupted from all directions.
Witnessing dozens upon dozens engaged in such fervor sent a chill racing down my spine.
‘Are these people insane?’
Even for a cult, this was extreme.
If a hood had been stripped away without a breath of wind, any rational person would suspect the use of an ability.
Don’t mistake the Erosion Infected who was convulsing moments ago for having Awakened…
Yet the Speaker, Baron Gavent, and even the woman impersonating The Purifier.
“Be grateful for Sephirot’s grace, Brother Anderson!”
“Brother Raymond, congratulations. You’ve endured so much!”
Weren’t they all congratulating Baron Gavent’s son without a shred of doubt, their faces brimming with anticipation?
Mad people.
A grotesque scene beyond measure.
My head spun.
He crawled up onto the platform and suddenly embraced his decaying son.
“Kugh, Anderson! I’m so proud of you! By Sephirot’s grace, you’ve become an Awakener!”
“Father…”
“Yes, your father! You’ve worked hard, my son! Now go ahead and use your abilities freely!”
“My body… something’s wrong with my body… that smell… it smells delicious…”
Didn’t they see him muttering with that pallid face?
Baron Gavent kept urging his son to use his abilities again.
Just then, as Serge withdrew his telekinetic power, the woman struggling with the robe quickly pulled the hood over her head.
That was when it happened.
“Kgh, kghaaahhh!”
A horrific scream suddenly pierced the air.
I hastily turned my gaze from the woman, and what came into view was none other than…
His son tearing into his father’s throat.
“Kyaaahhh!”
“G, good heavens! B, Brother Anderson, Brother Raymond…!”
Cheers and exclamations instantly transformed into screams and horror.
“Kgh, kghuugh! Cough!”
“Grrrrgh! Keeeehk!”
Squelch―! Splurt, splurt!
As if his moment of regained sanity had been a dream, the Erosion Infected shrieked while chewing and swallowing the flesh he’d torn away.
The large men rushed to restrain him in panic, while the woman impersonating The Purifier fled frantically to the left.
“P, please everyone, remain seated! There’s merely been a slight misunderstanding, nothing serious!”
The Speaker hurriedly tried to calm the panicking crowd.
Then the large men, whom I hadn’t even noticed standing at the edges, moved to forcibly seat those who were floundering about.
“Stop getting up.”
That was when Serge tapped my shoulder.
I turned to him with startled eyes, then quickly rolled my gaze to survey my surroundings.
There were guards standing by the door, so leaving immediately wasn’t an option…
“I, is it really okay to just leave like this?”
“What else would we do here? Why, does the Princess want to gain a new ability too?”
He furrowed the bridge of his nose with a mischievous smile.
Even in this chaos, his carefree demeanor made my brow furrow involuntarily.
“That’s not what I meant…!”
Didn’t we just witness it together moments ago?
How the Erosion Infected regained their sanity, however briefly, after being administered that mysterious liquid!
“I was asking whether we should leave that alone.”
“Leave what alone?”
“He’s impersonating The Purifier. And we need to find out what liquid was given to the Erosion Infected… mmph!”
That was when it happened.
He suddenly stretched out his large hand and clamped it over both my mouth and nose simultaneously.
“They say you’re the Empire’s most viciously wicked woman. Did you receive some new character education somewhere? To think you’d be this righteous.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“How does the Princess expect to handle all these people alone? Planning to knock them all unconscious? How impressive.”
“Uuugh, uuuugh…!”
I can’t breathe! What are you doing, you lunatic!
As I shook my head and hurled silent curses with my eyes, he grinned wickedly as if amused, baring his teeth.
Then he withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and replaced his hand that had been covering my nose and mouth with it.
“Hesys. Hold your nose and mouth tight with this and hold your breath as long as you can.”
I had no time to recall that this was the handkerchief he’d meticulously wiped his hands on after grappling with me earlier.
‘Hesys? What is that?’
At my questioning gaze, he gestured toward something.
“A hallucinogen. A type of drug—prolonged exposure can lead to addiction.”
“…!”
“Tsk. So this is how they’ve been preventing deserters all this time.”
His words were not a lie.
Whoooooosh…
I could see pale smoke seeping out from beneath the walls on both sides of the door behind us, accompanied by a chilling breeze.
I stopped resisting and frantically pressed the handkerchief he’d given me against my face with both hands.
Then a sudden doubt crept into my mind.
‘…But is it okay for just me to hide?’
Unlike me, Serge stood with his face openly exposed.
“Now, everyone take a deep breath and exhale. Surrender your bodies completely to the touch of Sephirot…”
Just then, the Speaker whispered in hushed, hypnotic tones.
The chaotic platform had been neatly cleared in the meantime.
Baron Gavent and his son had vanished, and the cage containing the Erosion Infected was once again shrouded in curtains.
“Ahhh… I can feel the touch of Sephirot…”
“Hnngh… there, there is paradise…!”
The billowing smoke grew increasingly dense.
As the drug’s effects took hold, the restless believers began to sway and collapse, one by one.
Meanwhile, the Speaker and the burly men positioned throughout remained unaffected, having taken some precaution.
I gazed at Serge with wavering eyes.
Was it just my imagination, or did his eyes seem more languid than before?
‘I need to get out of here fast!’
I hastily shoved my hand into my pocket and gripped the perfume bottle tightly.
Among those standing around, there wasn’t a single Awakener.
In other words, there wasn’t a single person I could knock unconscious with my Purification.
If Serge were to use me in this state….
‘…then I’d have no choice but to be exposed.’
No matter how much I held my breath, I couldn’t do anything about physical contact.
Under normal circumstances, I could have made up some other excuse.
But my mind wasn’t working well.
For a moment, my vision blurred, then suddenly sharpened.
That was a very bad sign.
“Hey! What are you doing right now! Did you really plug your nose with a handkerchief?”
To make matters worse, one of the bulky men who found it suspicious that we were sitting here normally approached us.
I quickly grabbed Serge by the collar.
“…?”
But for some reason, he didn’t budge at all.
Just as I was shaking his collar in panic.
“Wait.”
He was staring ahead with eerie eyes, as if he’d been intoxicated by something.
‘What on earth is he doing!’
The moment I opened my mouth in frustration.
Screech. Screeeech… Clang!
Suddenly, a loud metallic sound echoed through the quiet space.
Clang, clang clang! Screech!
“What, what is this?!”
At the successive sounds, the standing men flinched and looked toward the front.
Whoosh.
At the same moment, the blackout curtain covering the Cage slid down.
Click, creeeeeak….
The Cage’s door opened by itself, though no one had touched it.
“What, what…!”
“Grrrrr!”
“Kieeeek!”
“Kyaaaack!”
And without a moment to stop them, the Erosion Infected burst out from inside.
“Aaaaah!”
“S, stop them immediately!”
“The Awakeners… cough!”
The Erosion Infected, freed from their chains, tore into everyone in sight.
The Speaker and the bulky men were no exception.
Those who had been in disarray became prey for the Erosion Infected in an instant.
The believers intoxicated by hallucinations met the same fate.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Grrrrgh!”
“Gack, hack!”
“Ah, Sephirot…!”
Blood sprayed and splattered through the air.
Screams.
Ecstasy.
Chaos.
Rapture.
The hall transformed into pandemonium in an instant.
I stood rigid, turning to face the architect of this catastrophe.
‘Why, exactly…’
I couldn’t comprehend it.
Why would he deliberately release the Erosion Infected that had been contained, creating this disaster?
Perhaps he noticed my eyes filled with suspicion.
The man suddenly laughed with delight.
And then he said:
“I said I wouldn’t kill them with my own hands, but I never said I wouldn’t make them destroy themselves.”

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