Nuance of ひどい as cruel?


> いくらなんでも、 **あんまりひどい** 。ひかりがあんなチョコレートででも組みあげたやうな三角標になるなんて。

<http://contest.japias.jp/tqj2002/50133/story-old_03.html> I don't quite get
how to translate ひどい as cruel here, is there a nuance I'm not getting?




While `ひどい` can mean "cruel" when describing a person or behavior, it can also
be used similar to the English "terrible" to describe bad or undesirable (but
not necessarily cruel) situations or outcomes.

A common translation for `あんまりひどい` is "It was(is) [just] too much" though it
doesn't quite work here.

