A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 88

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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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88.

A cold gaze pierced through me like an arrow.
“I, I mean….”
I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I stammered in utter confusion.
The Grand Duke caught me as I stumbled from the tremor.
He’d simply steadied me to keep me from falling.
So why on earth….
Was he looking at me as though he’d caught me in an affair?
The moment I imagined how Ethan must be viewing me cradled in the Grand Duke’s embrace, my senses snapped back into focus.
I hurriedly pushed Serge away and tried to distance myself.
“Ugh…!”
But no matter how hard I shoved against his chest, the arm around my waist didn’t budge an inch.
“No…!”
Why is he like this, this bastard!
As I thrashed about, sensing Ethan’s increasingly ominous aura, I cried out desperately.
“It’s, it’s a misunderstanding!”
“What misunderstanding.”
“It’s because of the earthquake…!”
“Can’t you see for yourself?”
That was when it happened.
The arm that hadn’t budged despite my desperate pushing suddenly slid up along my back and settled across my shoulders.
“So that’s how it is, Captain of the Knights, my good sir.”
What on earth was he thinking?
The man who’d embraced me like we were old friends tilted his chin up and spoke with arrogant insolence.
Ethan’s eyes gleamed as he glared at us.
“What do you mean by ‘that’s how it is’?”
“Your sister threw herself at me so eagerly—what’s a man to do? I must take responsibility as a gentleman.”
“What…!”
Absolute nonsense!
I shook my head vigorously to deny it and pushed Serge again.
When he still refused to release me, I clenched my fist and struck his ribs repeatedly.
“Oof!”
He let out a small groan, then broke into a forced laugh.
“…Ha ha! That doesn’t even tickle! You’re quite the handful.”
“Are you seriously insane?!”
I shrieked in alarm.
Then he lowered his head and whispered rapidly against my ear.
“Play along sensibly, Princess. You were annoyed about the interference earlier, weren’t you?”
I was momentarily stunned by his words.
‘So… he’s suggesting revenge?’
In this manner, no less?
It was a revenge that offered me absolutely nothing in return.
Yet he seemed to find the situation utterly amusing, grinning wickedly.
“Look at that expression. You look ready to freeze my arm solid and shatter it this instant. You must be quite cherished at home, aren’t you?”
“Edith Blake.”
True to his words, Ethan spat out my name with a murderous expression, grinding it between his teeth.
“Come here at once.”
“…”
“If you continue like this, I’ll have no choice but to report every one of your actions to Father.”
Didn’t that bastard see me desperately pushing Serge away?
‘I want to go too.’
By now, I was half-resigned to my fate.
I had only wanted to escape before the Gate opened.
How had things come to this…
That was when it happened.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—CRACK!
Flash!
Lightning struck again with a deafening roar.
And then.
Screeeech—
A chilling sound, as if something were splitting and tearing open, reverberated through the back of my head.
I slowly turned around.
For a moment, I desperately hoped I had misheard.
But.
“L-look over there! The sky…!”
“Gasp! The G-Gate! The Gate is opening!”
People pointed frantically at the sky, their faces pale with shock.
Beyond the Observation Deck that opened toward the Sea, a fine crack had appeared in the night sky.
It was splitting open with a brilliant glow, unmistakable to all.
Patter, patter, patter!
Several people fled the Courtyard in panic-stricken terror.
The Empress and the Crown Prince did likewise.
“Escort Her Majesty at once!”
“I’m fine! You escape first, Crown Prince! Quickly!”
Surrounded by guards and attendants, they rushed up the Staircase toward the Central Building in hasty retreat.
‘The Imperial Family is fleeing like that?’
It was rather absurd.
No matter how much the Imperial Family served as the pillars of the nation, everyone here was their subject and citizen, were they not?
Moreover, the majority were elite talents—high-ranking nobles with considerable power and Awakeners who had rendered distinguished service.
The Empress and Crown Prince seemed to care for nothing but their own safety.
‘It won’t matter anyway.’
Most of those fleeing were either non-Awakeners or nobility who had never once laid eyes on a Gate in their entire lives.
Once the Gate began opening in earnest, the earth, buildings, and everything in the surrounding area would be sucked inside.
I couldn’t gauge the exact scale of the Gate opening now, but at the very least, this palace wouldn’t escape unscathed.
“How troublesome…”
In contrast, the Awakeners who understood this and had field experience merely sighed, showing no particular movement.
This event had been organized primarily for high-tier Awakeners due to the subjugation campaign.
In truth, even if we were all sucked into the Gate, we could simply fight together and subjugate whatever lay within.
Moreover, four S-rank Awakeners were gathered in one place.
Only those who worked in the Separate Palace and non-Awakeners like Nancy, who had followed their masters, were truly unfortunate.
They would either succumb to the miasma and become corrupted, or be killed by magical beasts.
Crack, crackle—!
Meanwhile, the hairline fracture in the sky grew wider, becoming a proper fissure.
Whoooosh—!
Through the gap, a violent wind accompanied by shimmering black smoke began to blast through.
“Ugh—!”
I reflexively raised my arm to shield my face from the biting, blade-like wind.
Serge’s arm draped across my shoulder tensed firmly.
Thanks to that, I managed not to stumble as I had before.
“M-Miasma!”
“Run!”
Several people presumed to be non-Awakeners shrieked and rushed past us, frantically scrambling up the central staircase.
They collided with one another, fell, and tumbled down.
Crash! Bang—!
Various furnishings—chairs, tables—were swept up by the gale and scattered wildly.
The ornate, luxurious ballroom transformed into a hellscape in mere moments.
‘Too late.’
Unable to open my eyes properly and gasping for breath, I laughed hollowly.
The Gate was opening far faster than I’d anticipated.
‘…What about Nancy and Eston?’
Thinking of the two waiting inside the building, trusting only in me, my heart grew heavy.
Whoooooong…
A sharp wind like a dirge.
The sound of something shattering and breaking.
Screams torn from throats.
Cries mixed with despair.
Amidst that chaos, a clear, bright voice suddenly rang out.
“Everyone! Please calm down! I’ll purify all the miasma!”
I forced my eyes open and looked in that direction.
I wondered where on earth she was running off to.
Ruellin had climbed onto the fountain at the center of the Courtyard and shouted to the crowd.
The large centerpiece behind her seemed to be shielding her from the gale, so she didn’t look particularly unstable.
However.
Splash! Whoooosh—!
Water sprayed from the fountain scattered in all directions with the wind.
The heroine who continued her cries while being drenched by it all was nothing short of insane.
“What are you doing, Ruellin! You need to get away too!”
“This is dangerous, please come down at once!”
Vincent and Dylan, who had followed her, erupted in protest.
Though they tried to forcibly pull her down, she wouldn’t budge an inch.
Dodging their hands as if teasing them, the heroine suddenly raised both arms toward the sky in a gesture of triumph.
‘Could it be… purification?’
It matched the description from the novel of purifying a wide area.
It seemed she was recreating a moment from her past when she had purified some Gate Site.
It had looked incredibly cool when I read it in text, but seeing it in person made my tongue curl involuntarily.
Hair drenched and limp, eyes hollow and vacant.
Lips a sickly pale blue, muttering something inaudibly.
‘Truly, a charlatan is something else.’
Around the time I was thinking such things.
Whoooooosh——!
Suddenly, the direction of the fierce wind pouring from the rift reversed completely.
This was the moment before the Gate fully opened and released explosive energy—when it began to inhale everything around it.
“Hold on tight, Princess.”
In that instant, Serge wrapped his other hand around me as well, pulling me firmly into his embrace while murmuring softly.
“Unless you want to be sucked in.”
“What…”
My mind went completely blank for a moment.
Wasn’t this practically an embrace?
Being held in his arms was the same as before.
Yet strangely, my heart lurched and a sensation of sinking to my toes washed over me.
But there was no time to deeply contemplate what that feeling even was.
Whoooosh—!
The shifted atmosphere began greedily sucking in everything on the ground.
As if pulled by an invisible force, my body lurched forward.
My feet lifted slightly off the ground, then sank, repeating the motion.
“Ah, ah…!”
I had experienced this once before.
Back then, there wasn’t a single blade of grass within reach to grab onto, so I was dragged inside helplessly, suspended in mid-air.
But now.
“…Tsk. I told you to hold on tight, didn’t I?”

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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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