Disqualified as a Villainess - Chapter 72

—————

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

—————

#72.

When I had previously extracted Prince Jeriel from within the Shadow of Chaos, the system’s intervention—deemed an emergency—had consumed an enormous quantity of Disfavor points.
“Emergency protocol activated.”
Drawing upon that experience, I had formulated a hypothesis: the system could expend Disfavor to intervene and protect the user under specific emergency conditions.

The Gate of Truth opens.

The Law of Equivalent Exchange commences.

My hypothesis was correct.
Whoooosh—
A golden scale materialized before my eyes.
I grasped the scale and lifted it.
Without even adjusting the fulcrum, both pans of the scale hung in perfect equilibrium.
And the second hypothesis: that I could channel abilities by expending Disfavor points as the price.
I raised the scale, my voice resolute as I declared:
“Convert negative emotions into magical power.”

Equivalent Exchange condition established

This too was correct.
With a heavy clang, one pan of the scale tilted as though weighted by stone.

Current Total Disfavor: [240,019]

Octavia had accumulated a level of disfavor that qualified as a social evil.
When the Ludovisi Family’s success in developing a new material sent the price of specialty alloys plummeting, the endless bubble of speculation burst in an instant.
The fury of those ruined by failed investments and speculation was beyond imagination.
Many lost their entire fortunes and sank into debt so crushing that they became hollow shells of themselves.
Some had even begun inquiring about contract killings.
Octavia, bearing the weight of countless people’s resentment, opened her mouth as she gazed upon the scale.
“Ten thousand.”
The scale trembled only slightly; it did not shift.
As though engaged in fierce negotiation, Octavia spoke the number again, her voice unwavering and resolute.
“An additional hundred thousand.”
Creak—
Now the scale’s balance aligned.

[Current Total Disfavor: 140,019]

What price could be placed upon saving a life?
As Octavia pondered this, her golden-flecked eyelashes descended slowly.
Then, at the sound of dry leaves crunching beneath footsteps, she opened her eyes.
“Whimper…”
Somehow, the Admiral’s puppy had appeared and was gazing at Octavia.
Octavia cradled the puppy in one arm.
She smiled faintly as she watched it lick her hand.
The warm, living heat that only a breathing creature could provide felt comforting.
“Little one, I lived in an age where the sacrifice of weak children like you was deemed inevitable—a time when life itself was held in contempt.”
I could love nothing. After all, everything would fade into meaninglessness.
She stroked the puppy and looked up at the sky where the Alchemy Circle shimmered above.
“Yet even Chaos, defined as the world’s evil, speaks of a truth—that all life holds equal value.”
That Alchemy Circle did not take only the lives of the humans in this place as its price.
Birds soaring on outstretched wings, squirrels stirring from sleep to peer from their burrows, wolf cubs curled against their mother in slumber, trees and grass, mushrooms, and the insects burrowed in the earth—
it treated all living, breathing life with perfect equality.
“Which means I am a human who came from hell.”
She recalled the dead world and slowly parted her lips.
“An additional hundred thirty thousand.”
Clang—!
The scale tipped completely to the opposite side.
In the descending pan, a mass of pitch-black flames flickered and undulated.

Equivalent exchange established.

Current total disfavor [10,019]

Octavia’s violet eyes deepened with intensity.
“Life Equivalent Reversal—inversion.”
At her declaration, a pillar of azure light erupted from where a sarcophagus lay nearby.
Soon, pillars of light shot upward from the sarcophagi positioned in the remaining four sectors, connecting them in a pentagonal formation.
It was a reverse alchemy circle—one that inverted the summoning array that claimed lives.
She had woven a reverse alchemy circle amplified by linking Logan’s phase-reversal ability.
Uuuuoooong—
The crimson summoning circle inscribed upon the black sky lost its luminescence in an instant, growing dim.
Then, as if daylight itself had been torn from the heavens and affixed to this moment, or as if a nuclear detonation had just occurred—
The entire pentagonal region was engulfed in brilliant radiance, and countless stars scattered across the black expanse like fireworks detonating.
Soon, the light that had saturated the sky poured down like a meteor shower.
The souls that had been sacrificed as the price for summoning the Chaos Gate were returning to their rightful places.

Third

sin,
unjust

dealings
,

three
trials
of
judgment
–
3
hearts

chosen
good

–

Home
Line
You
Yes.

Yes.

A turn / One’s turn / Number
first

I’m sorry.
,

I
full
enemy

Park
Escape
2
deep

Line
“High” or “tall”
–

1
full

Rain
Oh
persimmon

River
I

Push
sigh

The surroundings darkened once more.
Octavia gazed down at the puppy’s tail, which wagged ceaselessly.
Thud.
The scale that slipped from Octavia’s hand rolled across the floor before vanishing in a flash of light.
“…Why did I do that?”
She murmured as if in regret, staring into the void.
They weren’t even a real family, there was no one particularly precious to her, and it wasn’t something she could love.

“We are beings who value efficiency. The dilemma of sacrificing the few to save the many is the scientist’s fate.”

The surroundings darkened once more.
Octavia gazed down at the puppy’s tail, which wagged ceaselessly.

【!】 Favorability below 20.
【!】 Status Abnormality – Loss of Consciousness

Current total disfavor [19]

The same words she had uttered before death in her previous life.
Soon after, she collapsed limply.
Her lustrous platinum hair scattered carelessly across the ground, where withered leaves had accumulated.
“Woof! Woof woof! Woof!”
The puppy barked with all its might, spinning in circles around her, then whimpered and licked her hand, now grown cold.
Rustle.
The puppy stood guard before her, alert to the sound of footsteps from somewhere. Its tail soon wagged at the familiar scent.
The flickering gaslight illuminated jet-black hair and a face.
After the wavering firelight danced and faded, the eyes within the darkness—once a blend of gold and black—had transformed into pure golden irises.
“Hmm.”
Though the puppy sensed a different consciousness, its tail continued to wag.
Kelsedny Admiral, standing with an expressionless face, fixed his eerie golden gaze upon the collapsed Octavia.
“Why do something so unbecoming?”
He spoke in a low murmur, then smiled with his eyes as he looked at the puppy.
“Right? Such a selfish person, one you’d never expect to do such a thing, occasionally surprises you with unexpected actions.”
He lowered himself and lifted the limp Octavia into his arms.
He gazed quietly at her face, where shadows cast by her eyelashes fell upon her porcelain-white cheeks. He gently stroked the puppy’s head as it whimpered and sniffed.
“Is your sister sick?”
As if understanding what the puppy was saying, he tilted his head with a bitter expression.
“No, it’s closer to sadness.”
“No, it’s more like sadness.”
He pressed a light kiss to Octavia’s forehead as she rested in his embrace.
“Eventually, you’ll remember. You who came from the afterlife, and me from another timeline.”
In the Puppy’s round, dark eyes, she was reflected.
The Puppy had known her for a long time.
It had searched for her desperately.

***

I was born in a Laboratory, a failed experiment.
“Dispose of this Dog.”
I received injections to become intelligent, but falling short of expectations, I became a candidate for disposal.
I first met my Sister just before receiving the injection that would send me to heaven.
“Dogs are stupid, after all. They wag their tails even knowing they’re about to die.”
Someone said it matter-of-factly. Then, my Sister, who had been watching, spoke.
“You’re going to kill it? Let me use it for toxin and side-effect experiments.”
My Sister was an incredibly terrifying person.
And so, instead of another Laboratory, I was taken to a world I had never seen before.
The sky was blue, and gray Buildings lined the streets.
My Sister told me that war had left only five Nations remaining, and even those had only some Cities left.
“See that bird flying in the sky over there? It was restored from preserved genetic material. You were born the same way.”
Grass, trees, animals, and sky—all were created by human technology, and everything outside the Cities had become Dead Land where nothing could survive.
“We’ve already transcended the concept of winning and losing. It’s now a matter of who survives longer.”
My Sister wasn’t a terrifying person.
She gave me delicious food instead of poison, and applied healing medicine to my body.
And she studied not research on how Dogs contribute to humans, but about Puppies themselves.
“Hmm… Your whole body’s a mess. I can’t tell your gender no matter how I look. You’re Samsik now.”
My Sister didn’t seem to realize I was female.
After meeting my Sister, I learned for the first time how to play with toys, and I received a soft cushion instead of a hard metal Cage.
I also discovered that I loved playing with balls and going for walks most of all.
But my Sister was always too busy to play with me all the time.
“A major accident happened this time, you see. It’s not easy to find a pet sitter. They say they don’t like you because you’re ugly. Are your eyes crooked?”
Every night, I waited for my Sister to come home late.
Waiting quietly was what I did best.
But one day, my Sister stopped coming home.
How long did I wait?
People in black clothes entered the Cage where my Sister and I lived.
“Treat the deceased with respect and organize their belongings.”
What is a deceased?
Is that my Sister’s name?

—————

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

—————