Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 37: True Kindness

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Storage capacity is holding for now, but the Innate Sequence is still expanding beyond control."

"How much of the brain has it reached?"

"Too much, sir. Motor processing is already being rerouted and visual processing is next."

"If it reaches autonomous functions like breathing or his heart rhythm..."

"The boy won’t survive."

Voices echoed around me. My head spun and my vision refused to focus. Even so, all I could make out were two figures leaning over me.

What made it worse was a silver instrument, hovering just above my right eye, its many needles glowing faintly with pale-blue Logos.

I tried to move, yet my body didn’t respond. And the smell of antiseptic was so pungent that it was all my mind could focus on.

"What is the rate of success?"

"...One percent, sir."

"Do it."

"What? But sir—"

"If there’s a chance that the boy can live, I’ll do whatever it takes...it’s his mother’s last wish."

’Mother? What mother? What are they talking about? Are they talking about me?’

But the more questions I had, the more blurry my vision seemed to become...

Until the scenery started to break apart.

The two figures dissolved into ash, and the surrounding room started to do the same as well.

It was almost like I was staring at a polaroid photo being burned, their corners shriveling until there was nothing left.

But why was I here?

The last thing I remember was blasting [Overload] straight into my skull and hoping I survived.

Was this what people called "life flashing before your eyes" when you died?

Was that...Nolan Midgard’s memories?

GASP—!

Ha...ha...

My lungs heaved heavily, like I had just emerged from the depths and had breathed properly for the first time in years.

Muffled sounds came in through one ear and slipped back out the other. Explosions in the background, screaming...

I raised my trembling hand, forcing my eyes to focus on the fact that...I was back in the Database room.

It worked.

My gambit of using [Overload] to dispel Tina’s [Hostile Takeover] from my brain worked.

My body was mine again.

And yet...

Something felt off, like I had lost something in exchange for it. I tried searching the depths of my memory, trying to rekindle the scene of what I saw.

The sight of the lab, the smell of the antiseptic, the talking over me when all my body could do was squirm and struggle.

None of it came back.

There was nothing there.

[Pseudo-Player System resynchronized...]

[Status Change Detected:]

[Control: Rank D → Rank C]

’What? How did that happen? Was it because I managed to avoid my brain becoming melted slop?’

Yet a female voice caught my attention, eyes refocusing on the pink hair currently slumbing toward me.

"Nolan!"

"Ru...by?"

Yet before she even reached me, the girl started swaying over, eventually falling onto the floor with a soft thud.

That was finally what had woken me up. My eyes could see the scene clearly now.

Ruby was on the floor in front of me, layered with wounds and cuts so deep that she was staining the floor red.

And in the immediate distance, two blonde girls were both engaged in a life—and—death duel.

[Magic Bullet] x3

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

Three bullets made of compressed Logos fired from Colette’s hand, piercing through the air at insane speed.

Yet, with a simple flick of Tina’s wand, a huge wall of ice emerged, made of condensed water vapors that had been frozen.

[Vapor Flashfreeze]

The bullets smashed into the wall, dissipating as all their force just barely left a dent in the wall’s surface.

’Have they both been...protecting me from Tina all this time? Damn it...how long was I out for?’

I looked over, trying to assess the situation properly again.

’...Maybe if it was a 2v1, they could outmatch Tina. But with just Colette, against the valedictorian of the last year’s class, Tina Valentine? The chances are slim.’

That was when my eyes caught Ruby’s on the floor. My instincts screamed that I should help her first, seeing that she might be in critical condition.

Yet when I read what she had mouthed, my hand tightened around Huginn. It was just a simple word, but it reminded me of what I was here to do.

"Go."

[Spell Sequence Initiated: Tier 1 Offensive Ignition Type—]

[Firebolt]

BOOM—!

The wall of vapor broke into several pieces as the detonation went off right on its surface.

Yet when the smoke cleared, Tina had already taken a few steps back. The impact itself hadn’t really hurt her, but it was evident from the cut on her hand that some of the shards had reached her.

"Tch...you psychopath," Tina clicked her tongue before holding out her Wand-type Spell Driver in our direction.

[Glacial Lance]

Vapors froze once again, but this time, they condensed and packed themselves so closely together until a gigantic lance of ice hovered in the air.

Colette tried to let loose a few [Magic Bullets] with her superior Processing speed. Even if the bullets did hit their target, slicing Tina’s sleeve and drawing blood, the spell continued forming.

That was when I remembered more about the character. It was mostly information from the glossary that I was sure no one had read but me.

Tina Valentine, who had average Eidolon stats across the board, managed to become the valedictorian of Class 2062 for a single reason—her unwavering focus.

’But why would she form such a large spell when she knows I can use [Overload]?’

Yet, the moment I pointed Huginn toward the Spell and held down the trigger, a large headache invaded my brain and dropped me to my knees.

And like Tina had been expecting it, the [Glacial Lance] that was aimed at Colette just a few seconds ago, suddenly turned course, launching straight toward a direction—

The Mimir Database.

Her original objective and what she should’ve done, all along.

"Shit!"

With an outstretched arm, I tried to cast [Overload] again, but with the same level of success. Another wave of pain crashed into my head, like a nail was already lodged into my skull and was just hammered further in.

"Grgghhk—!"

BANG—!

The lance of ice reaching its target, crashing into it and tearing the spell itself into a million pieces of smaller ice dust.

"No..."

But just when I had thought it was over, just when I thought things would progress the same way it was supposed to...

Standing in front of the database, with her hand outstretched...was Colette.

[Spell Sequence Initialized: Tier 2 Defensive Formation Type—]

[Tri-Point Aegis]

My eyes widened, finally realizing what she had just done.

The three [Magic Bullets] she fired earlier had been calculated all along, making it look like her attack had missed—when in reality, Colette’s plan was to use them as anchors to cast a formation spell.

"Stay out of this!" Tina yelled through gritted teeth. "Your part is done! You’re not needed anymore, princess!"

"No," she simply shook her head. "No matter where you’re from, or what your situation is...you’re still a citizen of Astaron."

"It was my incompetence...I should’ve listened to you more. I should’ve...cared," Colette continued, lowering her hand.

"Why—" Tina stuttered in-between breaths.

"Because it’s my responsibility—"

"As princess."

...

I had been wrong about Colette all along.

I thought she was just a sheltered princess, a heroine designed to be that way in order to appeal to the demographic.

Maybe in the game, she was just that.

But this Colette...is different?

She understood that Tina Valentine was a traitor and a terrorist. And yet, even now, she still sees her as one of her people.

Even if her real parents saw her as either a mistake or a tool meant to be rid of, Colette never saw her that way.

And it’s this naivety...

That could be considered true kindness.

[Character Recognition Complete]