A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 92

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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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92.

A colossal dimensional Gate formed in a perfect circle.
As Serge had said, the Gate’s scale was not particularly large.
It could reasonably be classified as a small-scale Gate.
That, at least, was a mercy.
The smaller the Gate, the fewer varieties and numbers of demonic beasts that would pour through.
Shuuuuuuu….
From the fully opened Gate, dark demonic energy cascaded down like a broken dam.
At first glance, it resembled a black waterfall plummeting from the heavens.
It was only a matter of time before this entire vicinity would be consumed by demonic energy.
As I stared at it in a daze, a terrible hypothesis suddenly pierced my mind.
‘Could it be that Sephiroth simply… left?’
That finger he had snapped so abruptly.
And.

— Sephiroth is the name of the first criminal who opened a Gate.

Immediately after, the Gate opened completely.
‘He didn’t simply vanish.’
Equinox Island had never once experienced a Gate outbreak—it was a safe zone.
The reason was the existence of the Gate Wave in the vicinity.
‘Perhaps this Gate didn’t open naturally either….’
The belated realization struck me like a hammer blow to the head.
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
A bone-chilling shriek suddenly pierced the sky.
“T-Talos swarm!”
“Demonic beasts!”
‘Talos?’
At the unfamiliar name, I tilted my head in confusion.
Flutter—
Creatures resembling featherless birds began emerging one by one through the dark demonic energy.
They were far too massive and grotesque to be called mere birds….
Their heads bore bright crimson crests like roosters, with large pointed beaks and smooth, hairless bodies of ashen gray.
Their spread wings resembled those of bats more than birds.
Or perhaps pterosaurs would be the more apt comparison?
“Kiiiieeeeek―!”
They swarmed toward us with grotesque cries, moving like a swarm of hornets.
“Commander!”
A group of men rushed forward and took their positions before Ethan.
“Has everyone arrived?”
“Yes, sir!”
“All units, assume combat formation.”
“Combat formation, now!”
They appeared to be Awakeners selected for this subjugation operation.
They arranged themselves in formation around Ethan with practiced ease.
Watching them move freely, I suddenly became aware of my own predicament—still held at the shoulders and waist, cradled securely in someone’s embrace.
“P-please let me go now, Your Highness.”
I hastily twisted my body free from Serge’s arms.
He released me without resistance.
Yet he still added something with a trembling voice.
“So now that you’ve drained all the sweetness, I’m no longer needed, is that it?”
“I need to move, so yes!”
I shouted back and quickly surveyed his surroundings.
“Your Highness, you didn’t bring any other Awakeners with you?”
“Why bother with the hassle?”
“So you won’t be participating in the subjugation operation?”
“I was just planning to make a token appearance….”
He trailed off, then suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.
“What, are you cheering me on to take first place? I had no idea you were even aiming for the Equinox Flower.”
“….”
“Indeed, a villainess should have ambitions like that.”
“Never mind. You’ll figure it out yourself.”
I stopped talking.
I had no energy left to respond to his nonsense.
“Keeeeek―!”
A monster appeared, closing in from mere inches away.
Serge pulled me behind him.
“Stay back, Princess.”
“Is it a dangerous monster?”
“Compared to the one you’re wearing around your neck, it’s nothing.”
I contorted my face at his frivolous remark.
Yet absurdly, I soon found myself relieved by his words.
“Keck!”
Before the monster could reach us, someone’s attack struck it, sending it flying in the opposite direction.
It seemed Serge’s assessment was accurate—it truly was nothing.
Fortunately, the monster extermination appeared to be wrapping up quickly.
The real problem was the miasma spreading at an alarming rate.
‘What should I do? Should I purify only Nancy separately?’
That wouldn’t be difficult.
However, Nancy wasn’t the only non-Awakener exposed to the magical energy.
‘…What about the children?’
The innocent faces of the young children flashed through my mind, and my heart suddenly grew heavy.
Would it have been better if I hadn’t witnessed the orphans’ arrival?
It wasn’t as though I was some great altruist.
But to be dragged to a distant island by the greed of high-ranking nobles, only to face the fate of becoming a Corrupted and dying—
‘That’s just too cruel.’
I ground my teeth as I stared at the magical energy continuously pouring forth from the Gate.
The area around the Observation Deck was already shrouded in thick black fog.
At the sight of it, someone I’d forgotten suddenly came to mind.
‘Now that I think about it… where did Vincent go?’
I scanned the Courtyard, searching for him.
But his blue hair was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn’t that I was worried about him.
As an S-rank Awakener, he’d surely manage on his own.
It was just that the last expression I’d seen on his face was unsettling….
As I unconsciously shifted my gaze back toward the Observation Deck, I suddenly held my breath.
In the darkness so thick that I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, I’d spotted something glimmering faintly.

94%

‘…Insane.’
Vincent was still there.
Kneeling on the Observation Deck, shrouded in miasma.
His levels had risen another 2% since before.
‘He shouldn’t need to use his ability anymore, so why did it increase?’
It was a pointless question. Deep down, I already knew the answer.
Vincent was on the verge of a rampage.
“Edith Blake.”
That was when it happened.
Whoosh—
Someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around violently.
Startled, I lifted my head to see the male lead number one.
Ethan was looking down at me with a face as cold as ice.
“…Brother.”
“Get inside the building right now.”
He growled in a low voice.
This was not the time for that.
I wetted my lips.
“B-but…”
“Please, just do it!”
In that moment, Ethan suddenly shouted.
“Listen to me. The Purifier is dead, isn’t he!”
“…”
“If you’re exposed to miasma now, there’s no turning back!”
I stared at him in shock, seeing a side of Ethan I’d never witnessed before.
His face as he looked at me was twisted with desperation.
‘Ah.’
I’d completely forgotten.
That he still regarded me as an Awakener.
Yet even so, I couldn’t understand.
Why he made such an expression, why he was so determined to keep me alive.
‘Wouldn’t it be better for him if I became a Corrupted One like this?’
He could easily swallow the Duke’s Household then.
Besides, he’d already done it once.
When he turned a blind eye to save Ruellin.
I couldn’t fathom why he was suddenly playing the role of an older brother now.
Nothing had changed.
‘Could it be he’s afraid of being cast out by the Duke?’
Since he couldn’t attend this ceremony, the Duke might have hinted that he should take good care of me.
With that thought, Ethan’s strange behavior finally made sense.
I nodded calmly and replied without emotion.
“I’ll be careful not to expose myself to the mana.”
“What could you possibly manage on your own?”
But then came a torrent of unexpected harsh words.
“All you can manage is clinging to some strange man to survive?”
I was utterly speechless.
‘Then what was I supposed to do?’
Should I have ignored Serge’s help and simply stood there, only to be sucked into the Gate and die?
Perhaps his relentless criticism of me stemmed from that very reason.
Because I refused to die obediently.
I knew it was an extreme leap in logic.
Yet I couldn’t suppress the bitter twist of resentment that coiled through me.
“Then why didn’t you come earlier than the Grand Duke and look after me yourself?”
“….”
“When did you ever hesitate to chase after some foreign woman’s heels, and why are you now trying to shift responsibility onto me?”
I laughed bitterly and threw his own words back at him.
I was pointing out how he had rushed over the moment he heard that Ruellin and I were meeting.
Ethan’s eyes widened as he understood my meaning.
“You….”
Crack—
His grip on my shoulder tightened progressively.
I twisted my body, trying to slip free from Ethan’s grasp.
But he didn’t budge an inch.
Eventually, I had no choice but to open my mouth, my brow furrowed deeply.
“It hurts. Let go.”
“Say it. That you’ll go into the building.”
“I said I’d handle it myself.”
“Edith Blake!”
That was when it happened.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, Ethan’s hand was torn away from me.
It wasn’t a voluntary release, but rather an unnatural motion as if an invisible, formless force had forcibly separated us.
Both Ethan and I froze at this sudden turn of events.
A crooked voice abruptly pierced through the air.
“That’s enough, isn’t it?”
“….”
“She said it hurts.”

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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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