I Will Create a Good Ending for the Yandere Villainess-Chapter 73: A Sense of... Weakness? (edited)

Its deep black eyes, filled with hunger and malice, which were worn on its human-like face, stared unfocused as it had just suddenly developed cataracts in its bug-like eyes.

Lillian, unaware of the troubles the monster was going through just even to make out where she was, roughly slid under a clumsy swing of its legs that caused it to drag to the side.

The Phantom Conductor, who was following after her, pressed his hand on the ground before strongly pushing off of it.

Lillian flew back up to her feet—her arm shaking from the sudden burst of strength. She tightly gripped the hilt of her rapier and swung it through the gaps in the monster’s jointed legs.

As the baton of the pale blue ghostly figure flew over her head, so did her blade.

After the Sonata of Revenge managed to nestle its way through the gaps in its exoskeleton, it sunk deeply into its joints.

The Phantom Conductor then raised his other hand to his baton, gripping it with both hands and dramatically pushing it through the way with difficulty, like a mime standing in an ocean.

An ocean that was soon dyed in a deep, red-rich liquid that overflowed from the monster’s open wound like a broken dam.

After having the blood wash over her like a waterfall, she listened to the squeal from the monster with an odd-looking smile, which was reflected back in the surface of the blood, albeit distorted.

"I’m so edgy for smiling..." she outwardly thought, staring at the thrashing monster that squealed like an out-of-control pig.

A pig with a chilling voice box that mixed in high and low-pitched growls in its pain-filled screeches. Lillian couldn’t help but feel goosebumps unnervingly appear on her arms.

She then felt her body lifted and dragged back, staring as its middle leg, resembling somewhat like a spider, flicked at her.

The Phantom Conductor leapt back, watching as the tip of its leg screeched across the already damaged surface of the Carapace Chestplate like a nail on chalkboards.

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This caused the goosebumps on Lillian’s arms to spike before having to recover from the knockback received from the monster.

Thud...

She rolled against the ground, hearing the faint sounds of cracking similar to eggshells being stepped on and the feeling of some parts of her armour shifting out of place.

Pushing herself into a kneeling position, she watched as small shards of carapace fell from the front part of her chest plate.

She gave a solemn sigh, which was reflected in the depressing flame of her lantern as it seemed to have gotten colder—already lowering the cold metal frame of its cursed cage.

Not only did it seem to flicker and possibly go out, which she highly and hopefully doubted it would, but also the faint blue light coming off of the ethereal being floating behind her.

She glanced back and saw that it seemed to dim and glitch in and out of existence like the spirit of a deity that couldn’t exist long in the mortal world.

A spirit that still held onto the soft and mournful mask adorning its still face stubbornly.

’Not yet...’ Lillian thought, gritting her teeth.

She had to keep it active as long as possible. Just long enough for her to reign victorious...

In all honesty, it was the sole reason why she had remained alive so far. She doubted the necklace would intervene again and save her.

Fate wouldn’t find it very fun if it did that, right?

She watched the tip of the monster’s bloodied horn emerge from the curtain of darkness, along with its face that stared at her fiercely.

The muscles in its face twitched rapidly, burning with furious irritation at the insistent tunes lingering in the air like an annoying horde of flies.

Its jaws chattered against each other, causing its razor-sharp teeth of horrendous colour to scrape and clatter roughly.

Not only that, but it was finding itself hard to balance itself on the right due to the missing leg. This caused it to seethe with bubbling saliva that leaked through the gaps between its teeth.

Drip... Drip... Drip...

Lillian watched this with a repulsed expression and mumbled tiredly:

"What a filthy creature you are..."

Since the monster was now in her sights, the flickering Phantom Conductor switched back to being active. He kicked at the air underneath him and pulled Lillian towards the monster.

After closing the gap between them, the Phantom Conductor raised his trusty wooden baton that had taken on the same ghostly properties as him.

It shimmered with a faint light before being swung down.

However...

Something was off...

The Phantom Conductor stared worriedly at Lillian’s arm to find it... unmoving.

He had pushed her body too far.

The horrific terror, standing before Lillian, watched as the muscles in her arm twitched and seemed to try to swing itself subtly.

It then seemingly grinned before letting out a terrifying roar of varying pitches and slamming one of its front legs at her that shot with fierce intensity.

With the final sparks left in his existence, the Phantom Conductor strugglingly dragged Lillian’s body to the side, allowing her to receive but a shallow wound from the leg.

Lillian winced before widening her eyes and letting out a gurgling scream as the monster awkwardly swung its horn into her chest plate, bashing her away.

CRACK!

Her body was thrown weakly through the air—several metres high—a trail of blood with a mix of her saliva following her flight as they left through her mouth.

Not only that, but rain of a brownish polished material fell off of her body.

The Carapace Chestplate had, just like her, neared its limits.

Cracks that were only around her chest and a few deep scratches had now connected with one another and spread all over.

If she were to fall and crash into the ground, it would shatter, leaving her without any other protection.

She then took a weak, slow glance back and saw the Phantom Conductor’s fading body.

Not only was she going to be left without any other protection, but she would also lose the life-saving help of the spirit floating behind her.

Was this... actually her end?

Before she could even hit the ground, from the darkness and revealed by the depressing lantern that was still miraculously held in her hand, was the monster following up with its earlier attacks.

Although its speed was notedly decreased compared to its earlier burst of blurry speed, it would no doubt reach her and ram into her like an out-of-control rhinoceros.

Was there... a way out?

Flashes of subtle light and memories passed through her mind.

The majority of the memories are from the exam.

However, with the few short moments she had left before the cursed beetle-like monster’s collision, she finally remembered something.

Why did she want to aim for first place?

Was it because of the challenge it posed?

That was definitely one of them. The thought of challenge was the very thing that kept her playing the joyful game. But after that, the very concept called Challenge had completely changed.

Having a challenging life hurts. Extremely so.

But the battles brought her joy like some maniac, no matter how much it hurt her. Was this body originally a masochist? Had it somehow affected her personality?

She wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to know.

However, what she did know was that if she had achieved first place, she would have had the highest chance of gaining Marionette’s respect.

Enough to where she would be considered a friend even if Marionette called them "Acquaintances".

Yes... she did it just to be close to some girl who looked so cold-hearted. Indifferent to anything but herself and her gains.

But in the short number of days Lillian had been with her, she knew that most of what she had thought was false.

She wasn’t entirely cold-hearted. In fact, she’d argue she was quite warm... warmer than the embrace of both the darkness around her and the light from her lantern.

The longer she spent around Marionette, the harder she felt it was... becoming harder to refuse her strange advances.

Now that she thought about it... were her advances truly only because she had wanted to bond with Lillian or reel her into the Roselle family as another asset?

An asset that would help doom both the physical and spiritual realm? In other words, the world?

Lillian stared dazedly and blankly at the approaching monster with a solemn but also amused expression.

’Now I know why gacha games make so much money... it’s because of simps like us...’

She still wanted to be with Marionette. She could even possibly deter her from her original route. And with the way things between her were going, that’s definitely a possibility.

But... was Marionette... still alive?

’I couldn’t even stay beside you like you asked...’ She thought, tears slowly bottling up in the corner of her eyes.

If her past self saw her now, she would either console her or call herself a crybaby before recounting the number of and sort of injuries she had accumulated.

The sense of weakness and the feeling of regret flooded her mind.

She wasn’t talented at all.

She’s the category of weak people Marionette mentioned.

The ones that couldn’t live with the fact that normal people around them were far superior to them.

She then thought back to her little apartment. An apartment filled with darkness and artificial light.

Lillian then thought how much of a coward she was...

... A coward too stubborn to run away and escape from the delusional fantasy she was still trapped in.

Just as she was about to collide with its horn...

... The hand gripping the Sonata of Revenge suddenly twitched.