A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 91

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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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91.

‘…What on earth is that?’
Had my eyes deceived me?
Or had something gone wrong with my ability?
‘999%…? Wasn’t 100% supposed to be the limit?’
Poof—!
In that instant, the Deer-Masked Maid’s numbers, which had been so vividly displayed, vanished without a trace.
Like a bug that had briefly manifested due to a system error.
As I scrutinized the figure with a bewildered expression.
Crackle, crackle! Bzzzzt!
Blue sparks erupted around the Deer-Masked Maid.
Just as close-range ability users had bounced back when blocked by an invisible wall, an unseen barrier clearly enveloped the figure.
‘A defensive ability user, perhaps?’
Though the numbers were no longer visible, what had just transpired made one thing abundantly clear.
The Deer-Masked Maid was an Awakener.
“What, what is this. Still not dead…?”
“Who exactly is this person?!”
“A, a monster! It’s a monster!”
Everyone gasped in horror at the sight of the figure, not a single hair out of place.
The male leads were no exception.
Vincent, Dylan, Ethan.
Everyone in the courtyard stood rigid, their eyes fixed on the Deer-Masked Maid.
‘What do I do now?’
The very thing I’d feared was unfolding before me.
I stared at the Deer-Masked Maid with trembling eyes.
My mind had gone blank.
Ever since I’d seen that ‘999%’, my thoughts seemed to have stopped functioning properly.
Thanks to Vincent, I’d avoided being pulled in, but the complete opening of the Gate was imminent.
Before facing the countless minions that would pour forth, I’d encountered the most powerful final boss—such was my predicament.
Yet none of my skills worked against this final boss.
I had no idea how to eliminate such a monstrous enemy.
Were the male leads and other Awakeners coming to the same realization I was?
The courtyard, which had been chaotic with shock, gradually fell silent.
All that remained was an eerie unease and wariness toward this strangely quiet yet formidable enemy, and a sense of helplessness.
“….”
One by one, deep fear began to frost the faces of people who had been united in hostility just moments before.
Save for one.
“Hmm… This is getting rather interesting, isn’t it?”
Serge’s eyes sparkled like a child who’d discovered a new toy.
‘Ha.’
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
When abilities didn’t even work, if the Deer-Masked Maid attacked, we’d be annihilated without a chance.
Yet I couldn’t fathom what he found so amusing about this situation.
Did he notice the exasperated look in my eyes as I stared at him?
He spoke with triumphant confidence.
“Monsters with high defense typically have weak attack power anyway.”
“…?”
It was absurd.
Though the Deer-Masked Maid possessed monstrous defensive capabilities, she was still human.
Just as I was about to protest comparing humans and monsters, something happened.
“…Pitiful and foolish creatures.”
The Deer-Masked Maid, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.
As I’d noticed before, despite her voice being soft, it carried with it a peculiar clarity that cut through everything.
As I listened to the Deer-Masked Maid’s words, I was suddenly seized by an uncanny sense of déjà vu.
‘…Why does this voice sound so familiar?’
Though I was seeing her for the first time today, her voice somehow felt known to me.
But before I could recall where I’d heard it, the Deer-Masked Maid continued.
“You are descendants of sinners who, despite my omnipotent abilities unifying the Empire, grew arrogant, forgot my grace, squandered strength, blasphemed against divinity, and harbored disbelief.”
“….”
“Atone by willingly succumbing to darkness, murdering your parents, betraying your siblings, devouring your neighbors.”
“….”
“Then the chaotic world shall finally meet its end, and an eternal paradise shall unfold.”
She finally punctuated her lengthy proclamation.
It sounded profoundly meaningful and weighty somehow….
Yet the reaction from those of us present was decidedly lukewarm.
‘What? What is she even saying?’
Since this scene didn’t appear in the novel, I couldn’t comprehend her meaning at all.
Surprisingly, it was Serge who understood immediately.
“Why are you suddenly hurling curses at us on first meeting? How unlucky.”
He furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue irritably.
‘Ah. So it was a curse….’
Now that I understood, I mulled over the Deer-Masked Maid’s words.
‘Abilities I granted…? So she’s claiming to be a god? And why such a vicious curse?’
Murdering parents, betraying siblings, what…?
Good grief, hearing such vulgar nonsense for the first time made me feel like my ears were being soiled.
Then it happened.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a spherical orb of light the size of an egg materialized in the empty space beside the Deer-Masked Maid.
Whoosh, whoooosh….
The brilliant light rapidly expanded in size.
It was a scene I recognized.
‘Spatial displacement…?’
By the time I identified what it was.
The spherical light had already taken on the form of a person.
Soon after, the light vanished with a ‘whoosh!’ as though extinguished.
Upon seeing the figure that finally revealed itself, my eyes widened.
“That person…!”
The middle-aged man Serge had dragged to the Imperial Palace banquet.
The Space Ability User who had broken his chains and vanished at the Sephiroth Sect Base!
“Your Highness.”
I turned to Serge urgently.
He too seemed to recognize the man, baring his teeth in a savage grin.
“Huh? I wondered what audacious bastard had stolen my precious guide dog….”
“H-hiek!”
Despite the considerable distance, perhaps the Space Ability User felt Serge’s murderous gaze.
The newly arrived Space Ability User gasped roughly, trembling in fear.
Tap, tap.
Serge beckoned to him with his index finger.
He said nothing, yet somehow his words rang vividly in my ears.
‘Come here while I’m still being nice.’
“Ugh!”
As though ignoring him, the middle-aged man hastily turned his head away.
Then he dropped to one knee before the Deer-Masked Maid and prostrated himself.
“Sephiroth! I have come at your summons!”
My mouth fell open at the man’s words.
‘Sephiroth…? Then, that Deer-Masked Maid was the cult leader all along?!’
It was quite the twist, if nothing else.
I had only ever thought of her as a maid, never considering that possibility.
The Deer-Masked Maid—or rather, Sephiroth—gave no response to the man’s words.
She simply raised one hand and snapped her fingers with a ‘snap!’
That very instant.
Rumble, rumble, crash—!
Thunder and lightning descended from the sky once more.
Flash!
A brilliant flash erupted, and my vision turned blindingly white.
“Ugh….”
Whether it was my imagination or not, this flash felt unusually prolonged.
Whoosh!
When the blinding radiance that had consumed the world finally subsided and my flickering vision returned to normal.
The space where Sephiroth and the Middle-aged Man had stood was empty.
Naturally, Ruellin’s corpse cradled in his arms was gone as well.
“….”
I wasn’t particularly surprised.
It seemed I’d sensed this possibility from the moment the Space Ability User appeared.
What puzzled me was why Sephiroth hadn’t counterattacked at all and simply vanished.
And he’d taken Ruellin’s corpse with him.
‘So he’s unworthy of possessing The Purifier, and can’t even be given the corpse?’
Or perhaps he intended to mummify Ruellin’s body and use it as a symbol of his heretical cult?
Something like a Buddhist mummy statue….
‘Ugh.’
I shuddered at the gruesome thought.
“Ruellin…?”
Someone belatedly noticed Ruellin’s absence.
The second male lead, who had searched for her most desperately.
Vincent Leandro.
“Ruellin, where did you go…?”
He looked around in bewilderment.
Perhaps because he was far back at the Observation Deck, struggling alone against the Gate.
He grasped the situation much later than the others who had faced Sephiroth.
“Ruellin… surely not?”
“….”
“This can’t happen right after we meet. We only just reunited after two months….”
His face, standing motionless while muttering to himself, gradually contorted.
“Ruellin! Ruellin, Ruellin!”
“….”
“Ruellin! No―!”
The second male lead finally collapsed upon realizing the female lead had vanished without a trace.
Thud.
He fell to his knees, howling like a beast.
Seeing Vincent like this for the first time, something stirred within me.
‘…He really did love her.’
Of course, I already knew this, but with the female lead absent all this time.
Vincent’s despair and sense of loss, witnessed before my eyes, seemed far greater than I’d imagined.
Surprisingly, the gale I’d expected to strike again did not arise.
Even in his grief, he hadn’t ceased using his ability.
Whether it was for everyone’s sake or to prevent himself from being sucked in, I couldn’t say.
But.

92%

His runaway index had climbed to a dangerous threshold, and today it felt particularly precarious and devastating.
“H-hey! Look at the Gate!”
At that moment, someone cried out while pointing toward the Gate.
I hastily turned my gaze skyward at those words.
And I froze in place.
“The Gate is….”
“How is that short newcomer capable of such a thing?”
“How is that even possible?”
People murmured in confusion, each lost in their own bewilderment.
That’s right.
The Gate, which had been half-open until just moments ago, was now completely open.

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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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