Chapter 104

Unlike before, this time I ended up making Evangeline cry completely.

She was so frightened that she leapt off me and ran far away.

Every time I tried to approach her, she burst into even louder sobs, so instead of cleaning up the aftermath, I had to waste about five minutes chasing her down and calming her.

“Stop crying.”

“Hiiiing……”

“Shush.”

“……Shush.”

After I finally managed to calm Evangeline, I let out a sigh. That was when she suddenly spread her arms wide and stared at me.

“……?”

At first, I didn’t understand what she meant. But then I realized that her gaze was fixed squarely on my shoulders.

Wait a second. Weren’t you the one who just said I was scary and ran away?

Children’s hearts were impossible to predict.

With no choice, I lifted her back up onto my shoulder, and only then could we properly start a serious conversation.

“……That fellow earlier was about to use summoning magic.”

“Summoning magic, huh.”

“Did I not already tell you? [Arcane] exists within the ‘River,’ swirling without form, and only when called forth by what is known as consciousness or will does it take shape and emerge into the world.”

I hadn’t asked for such a detailed explanation, but since she was doing her best to explain, I kept silent and listened.

“It seems that Araya, that man, gained far greater power and knowledge than I imagined. The technique he deployed was without doubt a glyph meant to summon a higher species… something like that.”

I hadn’t seen anything, but apparently Evangeline, as a witch, had.

So even the best ocular scanners couldn’t reveal certain things to ordinary humans, huh.

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘higher species’?”

“The technique was cut off midway, so I cannot say for sure. But generally, witches’ favorite targets for summoning are demons or spirits.”

“So you’re saying I stopped him from summoning a higher spirit or higher demon.”

“Yes, you may take pride in yourself.”

That was her version of the highest praise, but to me it felt underwhelming.

After all, I was someone who had defeated a Titan even back when I was weaker than now. It was hard to believe that ‘that Araya’ thought some higher demon or spirit could stop me.

Could that really have been all?

It didn’t seem likely.

As I was pondering, Evangeline gave me further explanation.

“But remember, what you defeated just now was only a mere ‘puppet.’ The very idea of turning a living human into a puppet is enough to make me faint, but to think he could try to manifest magic of that level through a puppet……”

Hmm. Was that impressive?

I suppose on an absolute scale it was. But since I already knew the kind of powers the protagonist of the original story acquired, it didn’t seem so shocking to me.

“Most likely, his true body wields far greater strength than the puppet you defeated. You must be more cautious when facing him.”

“Understood.”

I gave a perfunctory nod, though questions still lingered.

What exactly was Araya truly trying to do?

In the original story, the protagonist—fitting the ‘Necromancer’ concept—didn’t rely much on summoning magic. Instead, he mainly used special chips to revive the monsters he had slain.

Of course, that much could never threaten me, not now that I had regained my prime power.

Considering Araya’s confidence, it was far more likely he had discovered some kind of special weapon unknown even to readers of the original novel.

I was still piecing together these deductions when—

‘Ah, I almost forgot.’

I contacted Maria to confirm the situation once more. As expected, she answered in a slightly urgent voice.

[“I was just about to report to you. This is sudden news, but……”]

“Did something happen at the Academy?”

[“Pardon? Ah, yes. That’s right.”]

Maria explained that monsters had suddenly appeared inside the Academy, throwing the entire school into a state of emergency.

For some reason, the security system malfunctioned, sealing off the exits and trapping all the students inside.

After the monsters appeared, communications were cut off. The Academy’s leadership and its corporate sponsors were now desperately trying to figure out a way to rescue the students.

“So they still have no countermeasures?”

[“Yes, I heard that rescue forces can’t enter due to the external defense system.”]

“……What an excuse.”

[“Yes, exactly.”]

That level of defense system could be dealt with easily—hire a few elder-class Wizards, or just blast it with a few missiles. The reason they didn’t was, of course, money.

If the external defense system was destroyed, the financial loss would be significant. The Academy leadership and the corporations in bed with them were throwing a tantrum about costs, refusing to break through.

In New Valhalla City, weighing students’ lives against the cost of reinstalling a defense system was considered common sense.

[“What will you do, Young Master?”]

“The situation here is more or less wrapped up. I’ll return with the Special Class within thirty minutes.”

[“Understood. I’ll make preparations in advance.”]

With that, the call ended.

The monsters that appeared were surely Araya’s doing. It seemed he had planned out his own version of my “Android Rebellion” scenario.

His goal was to keep me tied down here while causing chaos, siphoning off Contribution Points for Student Council Establishment.

‘As if I’d allow that.’

Araya, the Transmigrator.

Since he tried to use me for his schemes—

This time, I would steal his plan instead.

“Haa… haa…!”

Ciel was gasping heavily for breath.

The staff of light in her hand was slowly fading in color.

Meanwhile, the black monster facing her continued to devour the surrounding space with its overflowing greed, growing stronger as time passed.

Ciel swung her staff, firing off a spell woven in code. A fireball shot forth in an instant, slamming into the monster’s face and making its body stagger.

But that was all.

The monster’s body, made of noise, seemed to be carved away—only to regenerate as though nothing had happened.

Ciel refused to give up. She tried another attack. This time, lightning surged from her staff, piercing through the monster’s body.

The current struck the monster’s security vulnerability, melting its body with a sizzling roar. But once again, it regenerated, betraying her expectations.

“It’s modifying the code in real time!”

The program was like a living organism.

Evolving and patching its weaknesses in real time, it was unlike any program she had ever used for practice.

An attack that failed once would never work again. Realizing that, she judged repeating the same method a waste of processing power, and instead pushed her core to maximum output to generate a new means of attack.

Sensing her signal, Miyu modified her design based on Ciel’s code, creating an even stronger weapon and transmitting it to her.

[“P-Please, try this!”]

The moment the real-world Miyu pressed the enter key, a new weapon materialized in Ciel’s hands.

This time, it was shaped like a rifle.

It was certainly powerful, but she had never used such a weapon before. When Ciel aimed the muzzle at her enemy, unlike before, the attack did not execute as she expected.

In the meantime—

Chiiiiik! Chiiiiiiiiiik–!

The monster lashed its writhing tentacles.

Each time Ciel barely dodged, its tentacles slammed into the data-constructed floor.

With every impact, the ground shattered into fragments, breaking apart into 1-bit chunks of garbage data that scattered everywhere.

As the information making up the floor was destroyed by the monster’s attacks, the very spatial data of the battlefield began destabilizing.

“Urgh…!”

Signs of collapse.

The pillars and ceiling shook, deafening booms repeating over and over. It was a horrific sound, as though it was erupting from the depths of hell.

‘I-I have to get out of here…!’

Before the data space completely collapsed, Ciel hurriedly opened a door and leapt into another space.

Only then did she check the weapon’s code composition and realized how to use it.

Shoulder the stock.

Bolt back, forward, selector to full-auto.

Align the front sight, rear sight, and eyes in one straight line. Hold her breath for a second.

Then pull the trigger.

Tatatatatata–!

What fired were computer viruses in the form of bullets.

The payloads and effects of each bullet differed slightly, proof of Miyu’s genius in modifying the code on the spot.

The bullets shot forth in an instant, slamming into the program’s body as it tried to chase her through the open door.

Chiiik–! Chiiik–!

Upon impact, the monster’s form twisted violently. Like it had been struck with incendiaries, flames ignited all over the spots hit by the bullets.

Judging from its hideous screech, it was definitely in pain. The attacks were working.

[“B-But this isn’t enough!”]

“Then what should we do?”

[“That thing isn’t a normal program. I can’t be certain without further analysis, but it wasn’t created in any ‘ordinary’ way!”]

“In that case…”

[“We need something newer and stronger!”]

Of course. If it could be defeated this easily, they would have already won.

Before the monster could fully regenerate, Ciel devised a new weapon (code).

Passing through Miyu’s hands, her design was reinforced once again, and the result manifested in Ciel’s grasp.

“W-What… a magic wand?!”

Not like some tool of Allah—no, it was literally a magic wand. About 30cm of plastic handle, angel wings on both sides, and a crown and heart dangling from the tip.

‘What kind of code composition could possibly result in this nonsense?!’

The design made her doubt Miyu’s sense entirely. Waving this and chanting an incantation made it feel like she’d transform into a magical girl.

She wanted to dismantle it and inspect its code right away, but there was no time.

Once the virus bullets lost their effect, this new weapon would surely fail as well. She had to strike while the monster was still reeling.

Though she had no idea how to use it, Ciel swung the wand as she would any weapon.

Then, the heart at the tip opened, releasing a red heart the size of her palm that fluttered its wings as it floated out.

“……”

With this, I’m supposed to defeat that thing?

Was Miyu sane? Or just mocking her?

The urge to yank herself out of the deep dive, grab Miyu by the collar, and demand an explanation boiled inside her.

Meanwhile, the released heart wobbled through the air until it reached the monster.

Perhaps it found the attack ridiculous, because with its two crimson eyes, it stared at the heart—

“…It swallowed it.”

It gulped the heart down in one motion, then looked back at Ciel holding the wand.

Even without a face that could show expression, she could almost read the thought: “You call that an attack?”

“I-I suddenly don’t feel like fighting anymore…”

[“Ciel! Get it together!”]

Just as her fighting spirit was about to plummet—

Kwooooooooom–!

A massive explosion erupted inside the monster’s body. Like a detonation of piled-up TNT, it was a furious blast. The writhing mass of its body was blown apart, scattering in every direction.

“Kyaaaaah!”

Chunks of black noise-data splattered onto Ciel as well. She tried to dodge but couldn’t, ending up drenched in tar-like muck, and she let out a miserable cry.

“W-Why does this kind of thing always have to happen to me…?”

But only for a moment.

Miyu activated a data cleaner, erasing every fragment of the monster’s remains around them. Ciel’s body, too, was instantly purified, and only then could she breathe a sigh of relief.

“Th-That was a tough opponent…”

[“Ciel, Ciel. Look at this!”]

“Miyu, can’t I rest for just a little while?”

[“Now’s not the time!”]

Pressed by Miyu, Ciel reluctantly stood. At that instant, a bundle of reports materialized in her hand.

“What is this?”

[“I stitched together the data that spilled out when we took down that program. It tells us quite a lot……”]

She had already finished that much work?

Truly, geniuses were something else.

Ciel grumbled inwardly as she looked through the report. Soon, her eyes widened.

“This is…”

[“W-What should we do now?”]

Miyu, unable to decide, hesitated.

Ciel answered in her stead.

“We must inform Lord Aaron immediately.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep