The Worst Villain is Actually a Cute Girl-Chapter 43

The plaza, packed with people, was in utter chaos.

Originally, these participants were supposed to play in the games, just as Adam intended—but after Red’s deadly warning, not a single one dared to move.

Wait. Stay still.

No one felt like disobeying those words.

That didn’t mean their thoughts were silenced, however. As they waited, murmurs and doubts began spreading throughout the crowd.

Can we really just stand here?

Shouldn’t we escape while we still have the chance?

Some couldn’t even let go of their obsession with the prize money.

A fortune beyond anything they could ever earn in their lifetime—enough to buy anything, to live the rest of their lives in happiness.

For people surviving in the gutter of an outer city, it was irresistible. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And now they were supposed to give that up?

No way.

Even if they had to trample others, they wanted it for themselves.

Those who were unhappy about missing their chance to participate began subtly stirring the crowd, trying to push others into demanding the games resume.

But every time—

“Ow!”

“Ah! Hot!”

“Ugh, my back... why is it burning all of a sudden...?”

A masked silver-haired girl—looking like a cute little thing—had quietly scattered fine magical particles throughout the entire plaza. Anyone harboring impure thoughts got a sharp little magical sting as punishment.

It was her way of preventing things from spiraling out of control.

Of course, a mere slap on the wrist, like a child’s prank, couldn’t fully suppress human greed.

Tension crackled in the air, the whole plaza teetering on the edge of disaster.

Then suddenly, everything changed.

“What the hell!? What is that!!”

“M-Monsters! They just appeared out of thin air!”

“AAAH! What the hell is going on?!”

Four massive monsters suddenly materialized in the plaza.

Each was grotesque, like something torn from the depths of a nightmare. And the horrifying, oppressive aura they exuded—

—blanketed the entire plaza.

Some people began hyperventilating, teetering on the edge of panic. The entire area nearly erupted into chaos.

But instead, the terror was so absolute that it froze them in place.

Like prey before a predator, they could only tremble uncontrollably.

“We’re going to die. We’re dead.”

“Damn it. Why the hell did I come here...?”

“Aaaargh...”

Even when standing before hell itself, there are always a few who don’t give in to fear.

Among the crowd, some fixers quietly assessed the situation.

The monsters weren’t moving. That alone felt... off.

They wondered—was something wrong with them? Was this perhaps a rare chance to take them out?

After exchanging a few hushed words and thoughts, the fixers came to a decision.

They picked out the more capable ones to step forward.

The moment the brave fixers rushed toward the monsters, the still creatures began to move.

And so, the battles began across each of the four directions.

First—

The monster in the north was named Death.

A formless being shrouded in a tattered hood.

Its appearance resembled a grim reaper, and just like how no one truly understands death, its face was an abyss of shadow.

Death carried a massive scythe, prepared to reap lives and spread its curse.

Facing it was a burly man with a cocky swagger and a plump build.

“Jeheheh! Even if you look like a ghost, one punch from me and you’re done!”

The man’s right hand was clad in a massive gauntlet.

The material embedded in the gauntlet had the power to erase nearly anything it struck.

He charged at Death, followed by several fixers backing him up.

He activated the device in his gauntlet and swung a punch at Death.

Swoosh—

Death swung its scythe in a wide arc.

In a flash, the man and the fixers were sliced through—and withered into shriveled husks like mummies, before collapsing into piles of white bone that disintegrated into the air.

Those watching froze, their faces drained of all color. Not even a scream escaped their lips.

...

To the south stood the monster known as Abyss.

It looked like a massive orb covered in pure white wings.

Despite its deceptively simple form, the oppressive energy radiating from it was anything but ordinary.

Confronting it was a broad-shouldered man with a well-built body.

“Whatever it is, fire should burn it to ash.”

The man’s body was laced with mechanical parts.

Thanks to that, he could generate intense heat and fire directly from his body—without a flamethrower.

He took the lead, several fixers following him closely.

Flames wrapped around his arms as he prepared to hurl fire with a punch.

Then the wings surrounding the orb suddenly spread wide.

At its center was a tightly shut eye—and it opened.

They say when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.

The moment the flame-throwing man and the fixers saw Abyss’s eye, an indescribable wave of terror overtook them and devoured their sanity.

No human mind could withstand the Abyss.

Their eyes and noses began to bleed. Then their bodies swelled grotesquely—like balloons—and popped.

Ordinary people shrieked in horror or collapsed to the ground vomiting.

“S-Someone... just exploded...”

“Ugh—!”

To the east stood the monster known as Gluttony.

It resembled a deep-sea fish from the abyss—slimy skin, bloated body, thick stubby limbs.

And worst of all, a hideous appearance that triggered visceral disgust.

Facing Gluttony was a werewolf.

Strapped to his back were an oversized fork and knife.

“Awoooo~ Fish like you are just snacks for me.”

The werewolf stared with predator’s eyes, locked onto its head, then launched forward.

Inspired by his boldness, other fixers followed.

The werewolf howled again, reaching for the utensils on his back to swing.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

But then—

Gluttony opened its maw wide.

From inside, countless hands burst forth, grabbing everyone rushing toward it.

Those hands yanked their prey back into the mouth, and the jaw slammed shut.

People watching clutched their mouths and looked away.

“This can’t be...”

“No way... I heard that werewolf was a pretty high-ranking fixer. Taken out just like that?”

To the west stood the monster named Despair.

Despair was seated leisurely on a massive throne made of skulls.

It was an enormous skeleton adorned with sparkling gemstones.

“Hah! Even if it looks scary, it’s probably nothing!”

“See that? That’s our strength!”

“If this thing’s so easy, maybe the others won’t be a problem either!”

The fixers who attacked Despair wore smug smiles as they swung their weapons.

People around them stared, wide-eyed and speechless.

Despair let out a low, wicked chuckle.

Then—

“...Huh?”

The lone fixer left standing looked around, puzzled.

All around him lay the bloodied corpses of other fixers.

And above him, Despair watched in silence.

As realization dawned on him—his face drained of color.

He hadn’t struck down Despair.

He had killed his own allies.

Despair, as if delighted by the tragic performance, casually waved a hand—and erased the final fixer.

It let out a shrill, cruel laugh.

People clamped their hands over their ears and shut their eyes tightly, desperate to block out the sound.

“Ugh, I’m scared. Someone save me.”

“We’re all gonna die.”

“I wanna go home... please...”

With every fixer who dared to challenge them now dead, the monsters returned to stillness.

These four creatures were Adam’s most powerful pawns—strong enough for him to boast about them to Red without hesitation.

Seeing their overwhelming strength and the ease with which they annihilated the fixers...

The people were plunged into utter despair.

The money didn’t matter anymore.

They just wanted someone—anyone—to destroy those monsters.

A moment later, as the unmoving monsters suddenly stirred, people flinched in terror.

This was it. The end.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

That’s what everyone thought—until a heavy darkness spread across the entire plaza.

Within the darkness, the monsters raised their heads and looked toward the same point.

A tiny black sphere had appeared near the ceiling.

That sphere seemed to suck all color and sound from the plaza.

The monsters were staring at the black sphere.

No—the small, masked silver-haired girl standing beside it.

The moment they saw the child, the monsters instantly realized.

The power {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} flowing through her small body radiated such unimaginable presence, it felt like hell itself.

Their instincts screamed to run.

But they were just pawns—unable to flee without Adam’s command.

Until a new order was given, they were to wait.

However, if anyone tried to escape the plaza or attack them, they were free to kill.

And so, the four monsters began to move once more.

Death was the first to arrive, raising its scythe to deliver death upon the reaper.

But its blade was blocked by a single, casually raised finger.

With a flick of the hand, black flames burst over Death, engulfing it entirely.

It was as if the mere imitation of a reaper had offended the real thing.

Devoured by the hellfire, Death disintegrated completely.

Next was Abyss, soaring upward with its wings spread wide.

But like wax wings flying too close to the sun, they melted instantly.

Its central eye—meant to show the abyss—opened wide, only to be blinded by the brilliance of the reaper’s light.

It plummeted, crashing to the ground and disintegrating into dust.

Gluttony, as if determined to devour even hell itself, opened its mouth wide.

Countless hands reached out, lunging for the reaper.

But a black-bladed sword flew from the reaper’s hand, shredding through the arms and piercing into Gluttony’s throat.

Immediately, Gluttony’s bloated form began to collapse inward.

Bit by bit, it shrank—every part of it drawn into the blade, devoured completely.

Heh heh heh.

The moment that sinister laugh echoed, black threads snapped around the reaper’s body.

She calmly turned her head toward Despair.

The sword that had consumed Gluttony flew through the air—

—and slashed straight across Despair, leaving a glowing vertical line across its body.

Still laughing, Despair was cleaved in half and vanished into nothingness.

All four monsters that had stood against the reaper were now gone.

And the time it had taken to destroy them?

Only twelve seconds.

The black sphere vanished, and with it, the darkness enveloping the plaza faded away.

“Huh? What just happened?”

“The monsters? Where’d those monsters go?”

“Wait—was this place always this cold? It feels like the temperature dropped...”

No one could make sense of what just occurred.

They only felt a sudden chill in the air—and an odd sense of relief.

They realized that though being in this place was incredibly dangerous...

...doing nothing was the safest choice they could make.

All at once, greed faded. No one said a word about money anymore. They just stood still and quiet.

“...What do you think happened?”

‘Who knows.’

To Rena’s question, Lily simply shrugged, feigning ignorance.

The screen lit back up, showing the plaza again.

Adam, seeing that every monster he’d sent had vanished, was dumbfounded.

“....”

Red’s eyes, fixed on the screen, held a flicker of sorrow.

She closed them once—then opened them again.

Turning to Adam, she said:

“The game is over.”

“Uuurgh, this can’t be. Why...? Why...?”

Adam stomped the floor in frustration, then suddenly froze—as if something had clicked in his mind.

He muttered softly:

“No way... If that’s the case, then the Church of the Reaper’s request makes sense too.”

“The Church of the Reaper?”

Red’s brow twitched at the words she couldn’t ignore.

“Don’t tell me this whole thing’s related to them?”

“Ha. Why would a dead woman need to know?”

“You’re going to tell me everything you know.”

“Ahahaha! Just because the game’s over, don’t act like you’ve already won. Sure, I was surprised by what happened—but nothing’s over yet.”

Adam’s mouth stretched wide in a manic grin, his arms spreading dramatically.

Red, too, let out a sharp smile, her pointed teeth glinting.

“My power can rule people... cities... even the world! Your pathetic little justice will be torn to shreds before me!”

“Yeah? I’m looking forward to it.”