Chapter 343 ·The Villain’s POV in the Academy
Chapter 343: The Villain’s POV in the Academy
Aaron’s private mansion.
The first thing Serena saw as soon as she arrived was Aaron sitting blankly in a chair with his eyes closed.
Beside Aaron, Ciel was holding onto his arm and continuing some incomprehensible procedure.
“H-Husband……!!”
The instant she saw him, Serena nearly collapsed as the strength left her legs. However, when she remembered the lunchboxes packed to the brim in both hands, she barely managed to keep herself together.
Upon seeing the new visitor’s face, Ciel quietly sighed with an expression that seemed to say, ‘What was bound to happen has finally happened.’
Of course, Serena couldn’t care less.
Aaron was the only thing she could see. She first set down the lunchbox bags she had brought in both hands, then approached Aaron.
“Husband, I’m here! Please open your eyes!”
“…….”
Naturally, Aaron did not answer.
As though he had not even noticed Serena’s presence, he simply continued breathing quietly with his eyes closed. Yet he did not seem to be asleep either, making it an exceedingly strange sight.
Serena asked in a bewildered voice.
“Why…… Why is he like this?”
“Because his Replacement Rate became too high…….”
Ciel explained what had happened during the final battle.
In order to defeat the Sky Dragon, Aaron had forcibly raised his Replacement Rate with Modules of unknown origin, and as a backlash, he was gradually losing his personality.
“To borrow Lady Miyu’s words…… she said he’s effectively no different from being ‘brain-dead’…… Until fairly recently, he could still hold relatively normal conversations, but his symptoms suddenly worsened recently…….”
“I-Isn’t there any way?”
“There is…… hope…….”
Despite her words, Ciel answered with an extremely uncertain expression.
“Technologically, Lady Miyu is researching a method of capturing a person’s soul by applying the method used to extract the Essence of [Mysteries]…… Rather than merely creating a personality replicated as data, the goal is to locate and protect the human ego and the fundamental soul itself. But…….”
Ciel looked at Aaron’s profile as he sat there with his eyes closed and continued.
“As you know, Aaron’s soul originally didn’t belong to the owner of this body. It belongs to someone from another world.”
“……Transmigrator.”
“Yes. That’s why we’re simultaneously trying another method.”
“Another method?”
“Necromancing.”
Necromancing.
Serena also knew what it was, so her eyes widened.
“In the original work’s setting, Necromancing is the protagonist’s technique that combines magic with hacking technology. It uses magic to breach security vulnerabilities in Mechanical Devices, or conversely, uses hacking technology to exploit the biological flaws of magical lifeforms.”
“I-I know that. But how are you going to use that to fix Aaron?”
“Most of Lord Aaron’s body is mechanical now. Then somewhere within the only remaining portion of his brain, there should still be an ego that can be called his ‘soul.’ We’re going to find it.”
Souls and egos were realms of information that could not be reached through an ordinary Deep Dive.
But their current theory was that perhaps, through the abilities of a Wizard capable of swimming through logic circuits and magic capable of manipulating souls and mana, they might be able to locate the ‘soul,’ something human technology had yet to reach.
“Lady Evangeline would actually be far more skilled at this sort of thing, but unfortunately…… yes.”
Furthermore, no one knew what had happened to Dwindlog, who had fought alongside Aaron, immediately after the Sky Dragon fell.
They suspected he might have died after being caught up in the Sky Dragon’s magic, but since no Dragon corpse had been discovered either, they could not be certain.
If he had been here, perhaps his powerful Dragon magic could have helped them somehow…… but there was no point regretting what could not be done now.
“……Is there anything I can do?”
“……Then, could you perhaps ‘talk’ to him?”
“Talk?”
“Yes. Airi originally did it for us, but circumstances have made it impossible for her to come for a while…….”
“……!”
At that, Serena’s expression twisted.
Circumstances?
Just where was that girl, and what was she doing?
The person she herself had said she ‘liked’ was suffering in this state, yet what could possibly be so important that she would abandon him and go running around somewhere else…… Serena simply could not understand it.
Perhaps reading those thoughts from Serena’s expression, Ciel hurriedly added.
“I-It’s unavoidable because of the circumstances! I simply can’t tell you because of security concerns, but Airi is also working incredibly hard for Lord Aaron right now…….”
“No matter how important it is! What good is any of it if she isn’t beside him when it actually matters? If she had any idea how much Aaron cared about that girl……!”
Serena’s anger surged all the way to the top of her head, but she soon forced herself to calm down.
“Forget it. If she can’t do it, then I’ll do it. Come to think of it, I don’t have any right to criticize her either. I only thought of coming to see him now myself.”
“L-Lady Serena.”
“Enough. Start.”
“……Understood.”
Ciel reluctantly nodded and connected her wire to Aaron’s socket.
“While I Dive into Lord Aaron’s circuits, please talk to him. Stimulate Lord Aaron’s soul, and if the signal being sent by his soul grows stronger, I’ll find it.”
“Okay. Got it.”
Serena rolled up her sleeves and knelt in front of Aaron. Then she gently stroked Aaron’s cheek and murmured.
“……I’ll make sure you open your eyes again.”
Someone covered in blood entered Miyu’s workshop.
The moment she stepped inside, an overpowering stench of blood spread through the room.
It was none other than Airi.
Her pure white hair and skin were completely soiled with monster fluids. Just how many monsters did one have to kill for armor made from waterproof material to become stained with blood like that?
Having finished today’s battle, Airi’s eyes still gleamed sharply as though she were standing in the middle of the battlefield.
As usual, Airi casually threw the bag containing the materials she had collected today onto the floor, then lay down inside her Pod.
Miyu hurried over in small steps and looked at her worriedly.
“A-Airi…….”
“Miyu. Please. Don’t say anything…….”
“…….”
Miyu hesitated for a moment, then struggled to lift the bag into her arms and carried it deeper into the workshop.
Airi watched her retreating back for a moment before resting her head against the Pod and lying down.
She knew Miyu was acting like that because she was worried about her.
But right now, she didn’t even want to hear those worried words of comfort.
If she did, she felt as though the resolve she had barely managed to build would collapse.
As she waited with her eyes closed, the Pod shut, and hundreds of mechanical arms surrounded her. The mechanical arms stabbed needles into her body, connected electrodes, soldered components, and rapidly repaired the damage her body had suffered in battle.
They removed an arm that had been bent backward, covered the places where her skin had been stripped away to expose the titanium-alloy subdermal armor beneath, replaced destroyed mechanical organ components, replenished her depleted batteries…….
Normally, if she simply rested long enough, the Nanomachines inside her body would repair the damaged portions on their own, but they did not have time for that.
Instead of resting and waiting for the Modules to regain their original capabilities, they physically intervened to forcibly restore the damaged parts.
In other words, wounds that would have healed naturally if left alone were instead stitched with thread, glued together, and injected with drugs, forcibly restoring her to a condition where she could move immediately.
“U-Ugh……!”
Naturally, this was not only extremely painful even for an Adaptor, but also a process with severe side effects. Unless the Modular performing it was exceptionally skilled, it was better not to attempt it at all.
Even so, Airi decided to endure.
Hssssssss-!
A thin mechanical arm extracted a Module from Airi’s socket. Perhaps affected by the overload, the Module Chip had been charred black and was spewing smoke.
‘What Module was that again……?’
Airi stared at the Module Chip being carried away by the mechanical arm and recalled.
-A Module that drastically reduces its usable lifespan in exchange for increased defensive performance. The production time was shortened too. Personally, I absolutely don’t recommend using it, but…….
-I’ll use it.
Ah, right.
It was the one Miyu had warned her to watch the Overload Rate while using.
Today’s battle had been so intense that the Overload Rate had risen drastically, and it seemed the Module had finally broken as a result.
It had been roughly a Lv.3 or Lv.4 Module, so it was unfortunate.
She had lost a Module when she needed to increase her Replacement Rate and Overall Output Level even a little more.
But that disappointment lasted only a moment.
The mechanical arms soon brought over new Module Chips.
Just before inserting them into Airi’s sockets, a warning window appeared before her eyes.
[Module Information: A17 for Myocardial Enhancement(Open▼)]
[Module Information: T281 for Neuron Enhancement(Open▼)]
…… …
…… …
[Bio Monitor After Module Installation(Open▼)]
[Do you consent to Module installation? Y/N]
Normally, Miyu would personally explain the Modules’ dangers, precautions after installation, usage instructions, changes to the Replacement Rate, and so forth, but at Airi’s request two days ago, they had changed it to this format.
Airi merely skimmed through the usage instructions before consenting to the installation of every Module.
Soon, the new Modules were inserted into her sockets, and Airi convulsed as she felt electricity surge through her entire body.
“U-Uaaaaaaaaaagh!!”
“A-Airi! Wait! I’ll stop it now-.”
“Ghh…… I-I’m fine! Just do it!”
Airi gritted her teeth and endured the pain.
Every time a Module was inserted, an indescribable sense of revulsion and nausea surged through her, but she ignored it.
Eventually, once the surgery was finished, Airi sat up the instant the Pod opened.
“Haa…… Haa…… I’ll be back…….”
W-Wait! Where are you going!?”
“I didn’t finish those things off earlier. They reproduce quickly, so if I don’t deal with them properly, all the effort I put in today will go to waste…….”
“No! Even I can’t tolerate any more of this!”
Miyu blocked her path and shouted.
“You promised! In exchange for adding new Modules every day, you’d come back and receive maintenance! And at least while receiving maintenance, you’d get enough rest! You promised me that, so why aren’t you keeping it!? Airi, do you even know how pushing yourself like this might affect you later!?”
“……Move, Miyu.”
“No! If you keep acting like this, I won’t make any more Modules for you! And I won’t perform maintenance on you either!”
At Miyu’s threat, Airi silently stared at her face before answering flatly.
“……Really? Okay. Then I guess there’s no helping it.”
“A-Airi!?”
“There are only three days left, so I should be fine. I’ll fight carefully with what I already have.”
“Please! Do you have any idea how worried the other members are too, asking what happened to Airi!?”
“Then what do you want me to do!! What can I even do!?”
Unable to endure it any longer, Airi suddenly screamed.
Startled by the loud voice, Miyu flinched and stepped backward.
Only then did Airi come to her senses and cover her face as she apologized.
“I’m sorry. But I don’t have a choice…….”
Airi began gathering her equipment to leave.
Miyu asked her.
“Why…… Why are you trying to carry everything alone……? It isn’t just Airi. Everyone else is also deploying every day and fighting with barely any rest, so why are you acting as though you have to bear all of it alone…….”
“That’s not it.”
She simply hated herself.
The self who could do nothing.
The self who had always been unable to do anything.
“I’ve always only received help from that person. So I swore I would become stronger, and on ‘that day,’ I temporarily became stronger with the Modules he brought me. I equipped them and was happy, thinking, ‘Now I can finally stand beside him.’ But when the crisis actually came, I used the Modules once and collapsed. I couldn’t even accomplish anything worth calling an achievement, and in the end, I forced him to push himself too far.”
“Our opponent was a Dragon! It was a situation where no one except Aaron could have done anything!”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t properly do anything.”
Airi continued with a bitter expression.
“I lost my parents because I was a newborn baby, so there was nothing I could do. I wasn’t an Adaptor and I was from the slums, so I had no choice but to receive a one-sided notification of my brother’s death. And now, there was nothing I could do because our opponent was a Dragon. Ha, there really is no end to the excuses, is there?”
“……!”
“There’s no such thing as ‘there was nothing I could do,’ Miyu. I simply wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t truly prepared to risk my life to accomplish something.”
Airi let out a hollow laugh.
“But you know, Miyu. I’m getting stronger now. Maybe it’s because I’m genuinely fighting with my life on the line every day, or maybe it’s thanks to the Modules and equipment you made for me…… but every single day, I’m becoming incomparably stronger than I was a month ago. Yesterday, I defeated four Titans by myself. Amazing, right? Back in my first year, I couldn’t do anything except tremble in fear.”
“Please, Airi…….”
“No, I’m the one asking you, Miyu. Just two days…… For just two days, no matter what I say, please…… please…….”
“…….”
Faced with Airi’s expression, Miyu could not bring herself to say anything.
And…….
“Thank you.”
Airi expressed her gratitude for Miyu’s silence and once again headed toward the battlefield.
Bang-!
With a single gunshot, monsters died.
Booom-!
With a single kick, monsters died.
Boom-!
With a single shove, monsters died.
Kill, kill, and kill again.
After painting the earth with blood and bodily fluids, she hurriedly checked the map and moved on toward the next area.
For efficiency, she made sure her route did not overlap with those of the other members.
Furthermore, after arguing with Miyu, she stopped returning altogether and simply continued fighting. If she saw Miyu’s face again, she felt like she truly wouldn’t be able to endure it.
And so she fought, fought, and fought again.
She could feel that she had truly become stronger now.
Just as she had told Miyu, she had become skilled enough that she could now defeat most higher species through technique alone without the assistance of Active-Type Modules.
But it still wasn’t enough.
This much could not even reach Aaron’s toes.
At best, perhaps she had reached the toes of Mister Lexus, who was currently hospitalized.
Normally, this was something Aaron could have finished entirely with a single swing of his sword, or a single sweep of his threads.
Weak as she was, unable to even reach Aaron’s toes, she had no choice but to work even harder to compensate for that lack of strength.
Fight longer, fight harder, fight without resting, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, and keep fighting.
Her blood-soaked clothes reeked of rot, and her entire body felt as heavy as though iron had been piled atop it, but there was nothing she could do about that.
Like a single Battle Demon, Airi roamed the battlefield and never stopped fighting.
Just two days.
She had to produce results within that time.
The only thing filling her heart was the belief that if she could endure this time and this pain, everything would finally be over.
How long had she fought like that?
For the final three days, she did not rest at all, fighting continuously for 72 hours.
Aside from receiving ammunition supplies through Drones, she even spared the time it would have taken to return to the city, roaming around in search of monsters instead.
And on the final day.
A single email arrived for Airi.
“A-Aaaaaaaaaah, aaaaaaaaaah!!”
She could do nothing but fall to her knees and scream.
The email contained the news of her failure.