Chapter 107

It was ruined.

It was ruined. This was definitely ruined.

The man poured out curses mixed with lamentations.

The plan, which should have been flawless, once again collapsed pathetically. Because of that man, ‘Aaron Stingray’.

This was fraud.

It was unfair.

It made no sense.

No matter how much dissatisfaction he spewed, he could not feel satisfied. How could this damned world be so unfair?

‘This cannot be happening……!’

Through the ‘dolls’, he had surely been collecting information about him all along.

Not only the confidential module data of the Stingray Conglomerate, but also his combat style, his original personality, his human relationships—he had obsessively gathered anything that could possibly be used to bring him down.

Yet all of it had been useless.

For only one reason.

Because Aaron was far stronger than expected.

‘This cannot be happening!!’

Once again, fury surged up.

He wanted to unleash a savage roar to vent this discomfort even a little. But the moment he tried, it was as if something interfered, and he regained composure and calm.

‘Ah…….’

Why was he so enraged over such a trivial matter? It must still be due to his lack of cultivation. If he let go of everything and trained with a tranquil mind, he would finally walk the path of Buddha……

‘No! This is not me!’

This was not who he was.

This damned body kept stealing away his consciousness. Whenever he came back to himself, he always awoke with only the memories of ‘Araya’, not his own.

He tried to resist somehow by using the magical power he had stolen from Evangeline. Indeed, there had been some degree of success.

But the effect was waning, and the time he spent as ‘Araya’ grew longer.

“Uuugh-!”

It was all because of that bastard.

If not for Aaron Stingray, who greedily seized everything for himself, the situation would have been far better than this.

The moment he developed that thought, a mad heat boiled within him once more. Yet again, like cold water being poured, ‘Araya’s’ personality took over with scorn, seizing dominance.

Thus he endlessly repeated the cycle of raging in place and regaining calm.

As if flipping a switch on and off, or pressing the accelerator and brake at the same time.

His thoughts, too, advanced and halted repeatedly, as if two runners were endlessly passing the baton back and forth.

How long had this meaningless exchange continued? He gradually began to lose track of whether he was ‘Araya’ or something else entirely.

Every single nerve strand at the periphery felt, in real time, the process of the two personalities slowly merging into one.

Only after the seizure-like ‘switching’ had somewhat subsided could he calmly retrace his plan.

‘Where did I leave off? Mm. Yes, that’s right.’

Aaron Stingray.

The most obstructive transmigrator, rival, adversary.

Wealth, power, force.

He could not win against Aaron in a single aspect. The believers he had managed to gather had scattered thanks to the corporate-led ‘hunts’, and even the greatest hope, the Junk Chips, had ceased production.

The magic he had honed while fleeing from the eyes of corporate hunters had turned into nothing but petty tricks before Aaron’s power, which far exceeded his predictions.

‘Is there truly no way to defeat that man?’

He pondered for a long while, but found no solution.

Aaron had monopolized the rewards from Act 1, Scenes 1 through 4.

Moreover, he had already solidified his relationships with most major characters, leaving absolutely no way to steal the lead from him.

If the soul possessing him had been a foolish one, there might have been a sliver of chance. But it wasn’t.

The man understood this world and its members even more deeply than he did. No matter what tricks other transmigrators tried, Aaron would quickly see through them and put a stop to them.

Aaron would continue sweeping away competitors and greedily seize everything in this world. Just as he had been content to play the worst villain role, only to usurp the protagonist’s position itself.

‘……So, I was never the protagonist, was I?’

There had been times when he could not accept that truth and burst into fury. But now, it felt like a matter of little importance.

Perhaps this was the end.

Once this incident concluded, Aaron Stingray would surely eliminate him for good. There would not even be room to beg forgiveness.

‘……Death, is it.’

The thought of it made him laugh for some reason.

Could someone with such a body as his, maintaining his true self, even die as himself? Well, it did not matter much.

Except.

If there remained anything in this body—if there was even a single ember that could be said to belong solely to him, untouched by anyone else—

It would be ‘vengeance’.

‘I will not let you alone reach a happy ending, Aaron Stingray.’

Such a childish emotion.

What he could not have, he would destroy. That childish idea of a spoiled brat would be the final choice he made as his true ‘self’.

Fine. So be it.

Yes, this was it.

“……The final battle, Aaron Stingray.”

The man muttered so.

Somehow, he felt good.

At least at that moment, when he uttered those words, he felt as though he had truly become the ‘protagonist’ of this world.

Even though I revealed that Evangeline’s true identity was a ‘witch’, not only the students of the Special Class but even Maria showed indifferent reactions.

Perhaps from the moment I brought the Error Unit Ciel, they realized it was easier not to question my standards for recruiting talent. Who knows, but in their minds I probably carried some nickname like ‘eccentric collector’.

‘……That feels a little unfair.’

If I had to point out another reason, humans were creatures heavily influenced by appearances. Evangeline’s looks had surely played a big part in making them accept her.

This kid was, objectively speaking, quite cute.

Anyway, in that way—

Evangeline’s presence was easily accepted by everyone. If there was a problem, it was that she was perhaps accepted too much.

By none other than Raina.

“Evangeline, come try this! It’s really delicious.”

“Evangeline, aren’t you bored?”

“Evangeline, maybe~.”

Evangeline, Evangeline, Evangeline.

Throughout the flight, Raina kept calling her, until Evangeline finally could not endure it anymore and let out a shriek.

“Aaaargh! Enough! Get away from me!”

“Oh my……”

Unable to withstand Kssareina’s excessive attention, Evangeline fled from the seat assigned to her and dashed toward where I sat.

She practically leapt onto my lap, where I was reclining the seat back about thirty degrees. Sitting in the same direction as me, she tilted her head back to look up at me.

“Aaron! Make her stop!”

“Gasp! Are you telling me to die!?”

“[In the end, the little witch came to hate you. I knew it, hahaha.]”

“What did you say, senior?”

“[Ahem.]”

Given the command to eject by Evangeline, Raina looked devastated, while Silence—who had been woken by the noise—found the situation amusing.

When Raina glared at him, Silence awkwardly coughed and closed his eyes again.

As that farce unfolded in the back, I lifted Evangeline from my lap and set her down in the aisle.

“Return to your seat.”

“B-but……!”

“Can you not sit quietly.”

I narrowed my brows slightly, and Evangeline’s face sank into gloom. It must have deeply upset her that I did not indulge her feelings.

For a moment, I almost softened at her expression, but I forced myself to endure. If I gave in to every whim, she might become even more unruly than now.

Just then, Maria, sitting directly behind me, called to Evangeline.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to sit with me?”

“R-really!?”

“Of course. Come here and let’s watch a movie together.”

“Movie? What is that?”

Curiosity sparked, Evangeline hopped toward Maria. I sighed and called my secretary’s name.

“……Maria.”

“She seems to want to stay close to you, Young Master. Until we arrive, I’ll look after her in your stead.”

“Don’t spoil her too much.”

“This much should be fine, don’t you think?”

In Maria’s voice, I sensed an unusually strong determination.

Somehow, her expressionless face looked to me like that of Plnkton when he finally stole the secret Krabby Patty formula. At last, she had seized Evangeline!

“……Do as you wish.”

I was still quite exhausted from earlier, when I had used [Techblade True] against Araya.

Unlike a replica, this body was durable enough not to melt away, but it was still a taxing technique.

Looking back, I saw Iri, Ciel, and Miyu had already collapsed from fatigue. Silence, who had briefly woken, was asleep again, and Raina…

……No, why wasn’t she asleep yet? She didn’t look the least bit tired, as if she were leeching energy from Evangeline. A frightening one.

In any case, since we had to resume battle the moment we arrived at the Academy, we took rest as efficiently as possible.

‘Let there be no incident.’

I would ruin Araya’s plan and raise Iri as a hero to become Student Council President.

That was the plan I was following. But since I could not grasp exactly what foolish schemes Araya had set in motion, it was wise to remain cautious.

‘After disabling the Academy’s defense system, I’ll send the kids inside…… then, the key will be to locate Araya as quickly as possible and subdue him.’

According to Evangeline, Araya’s true body was hiding somewhere in the city.

Once I found and subdued him, I would never again have to worry about other transmigrators. I could focus solely on progressing the scenario.

‘So this will be the final battle.’

Reconfirming my objective left me strangely unsettled.

Why was that? After pondering a moment, I found the answer.

‘I didn’t want it to end this way.’

That man Araya, perhaps in this world where Shade Wells was dead, would be the last ‘Necromancer’ I would ever see while alive.

If he hadn’t killed Evangeline, or if he hadn’t tried to use his power ‘that way’—

Perhaps I would have made him an ally like Ciel……

‘No, nonsense.’

It was an impossible story from the start.

Had he not killed Evangeline, he would never have gained magical powers. My regret was simply that this was the last chance to witness the art of ‘Necromancing’.

He and I could never coexist.

As long as he lived, he would hinder me.

And unless I killed him, I would never be able to act for fear.

‘Just accept it.’

There was no need for sentimentality now.

I steeled my heart, and before long an announcement flowed through the cabin.

[In 5 minutes, we will enter the airspace above Sector B of New Valhalla City.]

At that signal, the Special Class members awoke.

Rest was over.

Soon……

“Young Master.”

At that moment, Maria called me, sounding somewhat flustered. Wondering what it was, I turned to her. She said:

“Anti-rain is approaching.”

“……? So what?”

“You still haven’t decided something important.”

“Something important?”

When I asked again, Maria said with the utmost seriousness:

“What color raincoat will Evangeline wear?”

“……”

It seemed certain that the mana of [Mystic] influenced people’s states of mind.

……Even Maria had gone strange.

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