The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 178

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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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Part 2, Episode 48
“Have you ever been fond of someone as a romantic interest?”
“None, except for you. Though I’ve married a few times.”
“……Then wouldn’t it be right to stop? I don’t much like to see the person I love suffer.”
At Selena’s words, Garren Wilbred gazed down at her in silence, then bent and pressed his lips to hers.
Her eyes widened for a moment before she caught hold of his collar and slowly closed them.
When he pushed his tongue forward and traced the inside of her mouth, her cheeks flushed crimson.
“Selena.”
“……Yes.”
“Don’t say things like that. I’m afraid I’ll truly lose my temper.”
Garren Wilbred brushed a hand through Selena’s hair.
Violet light spilled from his fingertips, and soon her eyes grew unfocused as she drifted into sleep.
He kissed her forehead.
“I don’t want to force anything, you see.”
He laid her gently on the bed and rose slowly from his place.
“About time I had a word with that damned woman.”
He murmured quietly, then exhaled sharply and snapped his fingers—the Five-Point Star Formation bloomed beneath him. In the next instant, he vanished.
* * *
Footstep after deliberate footstep.
The Cult Organization’s headquarters was far more ornate than the Temple, and as if to prove its opposite nature, it was decorated entirely in black.
And Garren Wilbred strode into it as though it were nothing, his expression unmarked.
Beneath his composed features, the faintest flicker of irritation showed through.
He moved inward with the ease of someone who had visited this place long ago.
He navigated the corridors without hesitation, without stumbling through the maze of halls.
When he reached an enormous, ornate door, Garren Wilbred’s brow furrowed and he thrust it open without announcement.
Garren Wilbred’s eyes narrowed with displeasure at the display of bare flesh that greeted him.
One could hardly tell whether this was a Cult Organization, a Temple, or perhaps a tavern he’d wandered into by mistake.
“Mm……?”
Among them, one woman alone remained clothed, reigning with leisured ease, and she raised her head to regard Garren Wilbred.
“Oh, I was beginning to wonder when you’d grace us with that precious presence of yours—and here you are at last.”
Garren Wilbred regarded her in silence.
Those entranced by her—men and women alike—should have reacted to his entrance, but they gave no response whatsoever. Their gazes remained fixed upon her alone.
“Amon.”
“Ah, how long it’s been since I heard that name.”
She brought a tobacco pipe to her lips with a light gesture, her hand waving casually.
“Since our honored guest has arrived, the rest of you may withdraw and wait outside.”
Not one of them raised the slightest objection to her terse command.
Garren Wilbred paid no attention to the crowd that filtered out in a rush.
“Are you looking for war with me?”
“I am?”
She widened her eyes as if to ask what strange thing he was saying, her expression one of wounded innocence.
“Why would I quarrel with you? There’s nothing but loss in it for me.”
“Then why do you test my patience?”
“Test your patience? When have I ever—……”
Amon, the woman with the brilliant crimson hair who had been muttering softly, let out a strange sound and abruptly furrowed her brow before opening her mouth.
“Don’t tell me this is about that human woman?”
“…….”
“What, that human woman entertains you so much? If that’s the case, let me join in too—……”
Screeeee!
Black spears materialized from all sides, slicing through the air with murderous intent as they bore down on Amon’s throat.
Unable to finish her words, Amon closed her mouth, and only then did Garren Wilbred speak.
“Why do you insist on vexing me, Amon?”
“I……what am I doing? Really. Have you grown old since I last saw you? You’ve become terribly finicky.”
Amon swatted at the black spears before her with the back of her hand, pushing them aside so they wouldn’t touch her throat.
“One can at least greet an old friend, can’t one?”
“What friends do you have?”
Garren Wilbred’s reply was glacial.
“What?”
“The reason I’ve refrained from laying a hand on you despite your insolence isn’t because I find you charming—it’s simply because I found it too tedious.”
At Garren Wilbred’s utterly dry remark, Amon’s expression hardened. It was the sort of thing to cut a person’s pride to the quick.
“What?”
“Do I need to spell it out more clearly for you to understand?”
Garren Wilbred tilted his head slightly as he spoke.
“Whether you get torn limb from limb before my eyes, or lose yourself in the timeline and waste away in solitude until you perish—I couldn’t care less.”
“……Come on. Surely you’re not being this harsh over some mere human woman you met on a whim?”
“Quite right. I had forgotten how stupid you are, incapable of learning anything.”
Garren Wilbred hummed softly and snapped his fingers. In response, dark, razor-sharp spears materialized once more—not merely one or two, but so many they packed the ceiling nearly solid.
“Listen, Vashin!”
At that call, Garren Wilbred looked down at the woman with an arrogant gaze.
A mere flick of his fingers sent three spears hurtling forward.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Two of the spears pierced through her shoulder and abdomen in an instant, while the third grazed past the side of her head.
“……Ugh.”
The woman’s face twisted sharply.
Garren Wilbred’s eyes narrowed as he watched something dark ooze from the wounds instead of blood.
The moment his pupils dilated vertically, his form began to shift.
Horns sprouted from his head, wings unfurled. A long tail swayed gently, and an arrogant sovereign gazed downward.
“Hey, this is infuriating. That rotten temperament of yours still hasn’t improved……Ugh!”
Whoosh—!
Another spear flew forth.
It sliced through her hair and embedded itself in the wall behind her, oozing something dark as it trembled with menace.
“Ugh! Vashin, come on. Let’s settle this with words, yeah?”
“Now then, one ought to speak truthfully, shouldn’t they, Amon?”
He walked forward deliberately and stood directly before her, looking down as he opened his mouth.
“I came here wishing to resolve matters through dialogue.”
He reached out and grasped one of the nearby spears, then continued speaking with an unhurried expression.
“But you just threw my consideration back in my face.”
“No, that’s……Is it really true? So you’re being sincere? That human woman……”
“Selena.”
“What?”
“I said her name is Selena, not ‘that human woman.'”
“No, you’re mad……Why would I bother remembering a human’s name……”
As Garren Wilbred’s gaze sharpened further, Amon pressed her lips together and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ah, so you’re saying you’re sincere toward this Selena?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?”
“You shouldn’t! What are you spouting, you? Do you even know what you are? And does that human wom—no, does Selena or whoever even know?”
As Amon’s voice rose, Garren Wilbred opened his mouth with deliberate calm.
“I’ve told her about eighty percent of it.”
“You’re insane……Are you actually insane?! You, you! Haven’t you been living too long intertwined with humans?”
“That’s not a conversation I need to have with you.”
“Listen, you madman. Who do you think you’re giving your heart to? Keep your games as games. Don’t do anything foolish.”
She plucked the spears from her body one by one, tossing them to the ground as her voice turned cold.
“No matter how much you pour yourself into her, how much Abyss you grant her, how much power you bestow or authority you hand over, no matter what else you do—even if you give her Eternal Life, humans can’t endure it for more than a few centuries.”
“…….”
“The force humans call the Abyss flows from the Depths—a colossal power meant only for us, something no human could ever truly bear.”
Garren Wilbred watched Amon press her hand over her own wounds, and he swayed the spear he held lightly.
When she withdrew her hand, the wounds vanished.
“When cracks formed in the Depths and power began seeping out, that’s when it gradually leaked into humans—and that’s the origin of what they call the Abyss.”
“Are you giving me a lecture on the Abyss?”
Presuming to do so?
The arrogance threaded through his added words made Amon’s face contort immediately.
What kind of demon was this—claiming to be the most benevolent of them all?
‘This is beyond ridiculous……’
She clicked her tongue and brought the tobacco pipe back to her lips.
“So is that why you’re here now—to warn me about that wom—ah, fine! Selena! To warn me away from touching her?”
“Does any other reason come to mind?”

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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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