A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 89

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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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89.

He released his arm from around my waist and took my limp hand, placing it over his cravat.
“Hold it tight like this.”
Then he layered his own hand over mine, forcing my fingers to curl around the fabric.
My hand, chilled by the fierce wind, was suddenly engulfed in his warmth.
I stared up at him in a daze.
With the wind at my back, I could open my eyes without difficulty.
My bewildered face was perfectly reflected in those two eyes, dark as an abyss.
The man looked down at me and smiled wickedly.
“Hold on when I tell you to. Don’t go stealing things while someone’s unconscious.”
….
“I might even overlook it if you strangle my neck once or twice while you’re at it.”
Was something wrong with my ears?
It sounded like he was trying to make up for when I’d strangled his neck at the Imperial Palace Ballroom.
He was brazenly asking me to strangle his neck….
“…Are you a pervert?”
“Heh.”
The man scoffed at my question.
“Who’s the one who usually looks at me like that?”
“I, I never did!”
“You often gaze at me as if you want to strangle my neck. You’re doing it right now.”
….
“Pervert.”
He shot the accusation back at me with vengeful pettiness.
‘That’s actually a sign I want to kill you!’
Strangling was undoubtedly a violent and dangerous act.
Yet I couldn’t understand why those words sounded so obscene coming from his lips.
A shiver ran down my spine like ants crawling across my back, and I found myself trembling involuntarily.
“Edith Blake―!”
Someone called out to me like a thunderbolt.
I jerked my head up in surprise and saw Ethan glaring at us with murderous eyes.
The ground around his feet was completely frozen white.
It seemed he’d used his ability to freeze the soles of his shoes to the ground.
“That thing still hasn’t been pulled in?”
Serge clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
He removed his hand from over mine and pulled me into his embrace as if to make a point.
“If you’re a knight commander, you should be the first to enter the Gate and deal with the monsters. Yet here you are, pathetically freezing only your own feet.”
“I suppose so…”
I murmured in a daze.
Of course, that wasn’t agreement with Serge’s words.
‘Why hasn’t he gone to Ruellin yet?’
I’d assumed that once the wind shifted, he would naturally rush to the female lead.
After all, the Grand Duke was helping, so I thought he wouldn’t care about someone like me…
But why was he still standing there like a minister, glaring at me?

72%

In the gathering dusk, his head shone brightly above.
Whether he’d used his ability or his state was unstable, the number had risen by 1%.
‘Isn’t the female lead purifying the demonic energy right now?’
Even if her mind was scattered, using her ability should be fine.
But her rampage index had reached ‘93%’, which troubled me.
‘Surely the female lead isn’t going to rampage here of all places.’
No matter how much of a mess this story was, it couldn’t be that catastrophic…
As I fell into thought watching Ethan’s rising numbers.
“I’ll fix it with my ability, so let go.”
“…”
“Now!”
He shouted again, his voice harsh.
‘Why is he so angry?’
I stared at Ethan, who was breathing roughly, as if I couldn’t understand him.
I’ll admit the atmosphere when Serge made me grab his cravat just moments ago was rather strange.
But if we hadn’t made some kind of deal, I would have been flailing in mid-air searching for something to hold onto by now.
And no one would have cared whether I got sucked into the Gate or not.
Just like how they ignored the real Edith Blake when she was sucked into the Gate before I possessed her, ultimately letting her die.
A chill ran down my spine as I recalled how the same situation had nearly repeated itself.
‘Serge should have used his ability earlier before stepping in. Why is he taking it out on me now? Who does he think he is.’
Sudden resentment surged within me.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I felt wronged for being wary of Ethan.
I lifted my head and glared directly at him.
Then I raised my other hand and gripped Serge’s cravat tightly, as if to make a point.
“Ugh.”
He let out a faint groan as his throat constricted, but I didn’t care.
‘I won’t go to you, even if it kills me.’
My refusal, demonstrated so clearly, must have conveyed my intent unmistakably.
Ethan’s blue eyes, which had been boring into me, wavered for a moment.

73%

At the same moment, his shame level climbed once more.
That was when it happened.
“Kyaaaah!”
A piercing scream tore through the air.
Turning sharply in that direction, I saw Ruellin—who had been standing atop the Fountain mere moments before—flailing helplessly in mid-air.
“Ruellin!”
Vincent and Dylan rushed to catch her, but failed.
Instead, even they, who had been clinging desperately to the Fountain, were swept away by the violent gust.
Dylan managed to react quickly, grasping a protruding fragment at the base of the Fountain, but Vincent was not so fortunate.
“Ugh!”
Losing his balance, he crashed to the ground.
His bulk and weight prevented him from being lifted away like Ruellin had been.
Instead, he rose and fell repeatedly like a fallen leaf, tumbling helplessly across the pavement.
The sight was both pitiful and darkly amusing.
By contrast, the far lighter Ruellin was rapidly dragged toward the Observation Deck.
Her suspended body climbed higher and higher into the sky.
“Kyaah! H-Help! Is anyone there?!”
Ruellin screamed, her face twisted in terror.
Crack, crack, crack!
In that instant, an ice pillar erupted from beneath her feet, spiraling upward in serpentine coils.
Growing swiftly to match her height, it wrapped around one of her legs like a vine.
I didn’t need to turn around to know that Ethan had unleashed his ability.
Thanks to him, Ruellin was anchored in place rather than being pulled into the Gate.
“Hnngh…!”
Yet the ice binding her leg was so bitterly cold that she let out a pained whimper.
I glanced sideways at Serge.
He was simply watching the spectacle unfold with keen interest.
Neither the heroine nor the other male leads seemed inclined to help at all.
That struck me as peculiar.
‘Why aren’t they saving the heroine?’
Even if love hadn’t yet bloomed, she was still the ‘heroine’, wasn’t she?
He was the ‘hero’.
Shouldn’t a hero save the heroine regardless of circumstances?
Whoooooosh—!
Then, without warning, the Gate’s suction force intensified beyond anything before.
“Aaaaah!”
“Save me!”
Even those who had been barely holding on by grasping garden statuary and ornamental sculptures began to be dragged into the void, one by one.
That wasn’t all.
Screech! Bang! Boom!
Heavy furniture—chairs, tables, and more—went flying through the air.
For Ruellin, pinned in place before the Gate, it was an extremely perilous situation.
And as expected.
“Kyaaaah!”
A massive, weighty statue hurtled directly toward her.
Just before it could collide with her head-on.
“Damn it!”
Whoosh!
Suddenly, someone’s rough curse accompanied a violent gust that stopped as abruptly as if it had been a lie.
In that instant, silence descended upon the Courtyard.
And seconds later.
People and objects that had been sucked upward at high speed plummeted to the ground.
Thud! Crash! Boom! Bang—!
“Ugh!”
“Ow!”
Cries of pain echoed from all directions.
The statue that had nearly struck Ruellin also fell with a heavy sound, shattering into fragments.
‘What just happened?’
I looked up at the sky in alarm, but the Gate remained unchanged.
The cracks had grown slightly wider.
Demonic energy continued to seep through.
“Damn it… what is this annoying mess?”
Then, from directly behind the ice pillar holding Ruellin, a blue-haired man staggered to his feet.
It was Vincent, the second male lead.
His beige tailcoat was covered in dirt from rolling across the ground from the Fountain all the way here.
He looked like a vagrant who’d picked up someone else’s discarded clothes.
In that state, he spread both hands toward the Gate.

90%

At that same moment, his rating surged.
A full 5% increase.
My eyes widened at the number, visible even from a distance.
‘He stopped the wind… him?’
I could scarcely believe it.
Of course, logically it was possible.
He was an esper who wielded wind, and an S-rank at that.
But to halt even the tempest spawned by the Gate….
Nothing was truly resolved, yet thanks to him, we had carved out a precious moment to catch our breath.
“Should’ve done this from the start, damn it, damn it!”
He continued muttering curses under his breath before suddenly turning his head back.
“Are you alright, Ruellin?”
“Hnngh….”
“Listen, Frederick! Get Ruellin down now! The child will freeze to death!”
Whoooosh!
Before Vincent’s words had even finished, flames erupted beneath the ice pillar.
By then, Dylan had also risen to his feet.
He too looked utterly disheveled.
His neatly combed crimson hair was thoroughly mussed, and the sharp suit he wore was completely wrinkled.
Taking advantage of the moment Vincent held the wind at bay, Dylan stood in place and carefully controlled his power.
Ssssshhhhh….
The ice pillar Ethan had created slowly melted from the bottom up.
It was clear he was doing this deliberately—if he melted it all at once, Ruellin could fall and be injured.
After a time, the young lady’s feet finally touched solid ground.
“Huff, Dylan! Thank you for saving me!”
Clearly not in her right mind, she rushed toward Dylan, ignoring Vincent behind her who was sweating profusely as he maintained his power.
Yet someone reached her first.
A pristine white robe, spotless.
Grotesquely protruding deer antlers.
‘The Deer-Masked Maid…? Where did she come from?’
I tilted my head in confusion at the maid who had appeared as if rising from the earth itself.
The Deer-Masked Maid, drawing close to her mistress, suddenly withdrew something from her bosom and raised it high.
It gleamed sharply, reflected in the moonlight.
‘That couldn’t possibly be….’
Before I could even blink, the Deer-Masked Maid plunged it directly into Ruellin’s chest.
Squelch—!
“Gack!”
The young lady gasped for breath and slowly collapsed.
Every moment unfolded as if in slow motion.
Thud!
With a soft thud, the Deer-Masked Maid caught the collapsing heroine in her arms.
Then, turning toward the Ballroom, she spoke carelessly….
“You sinners have no right to possess The Purifier.”
…Could this all be nothing but a dream?
At a development far more catastrophic than Ruellin’s rampage, my breath caught in my throat.

Two months into the possession.
The heroine was dead.

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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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