Chapter: 11. Substitute Protagonists
“Truly worthy of being an S-class.”
A few streets away from the battlefield just now.
On the roof of an office building, two figures stood quietly by the railing, gazing at the night sky as the city returned to tranquility.
One of them had slightly graying hair, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and had a refined appearance, his suit buttoned neatly. He clapped his hands appreciatively and voiced the earlier remark.
S-class is a very special rank among ability users.
It symbolizes a unique individual—”the protagonist.”
In the system of ability ranks, S-class is a hidden level, but this rank does not represent strength; S-class does not mean “the strongest.” The title of “the strongest” in the ability user ranks belongs to the “Ace.”
S-class merely signifies “special,” an individual chosen by destiny.
“Compared to ‘him’ back in the day… do you think he has caught up to our former savior?” The other person, taller and expressionless, had gray hair styled to one side, and held an unlit cigarette between his fingers. The fine lines at the corners of his eyes revealed a sense of exhaustion akin to that of a corporate worker.
“A single blow to eliminate a threat of rank 8 or above, without endangering any ordinary citizens—an impressive power. But unfortunately, he still retains a naive side.” The man with the gold-rimmed glasses sighed as he slowly took off his glasses and pulled out a silk cloth to clean the lenses. “After defeating the enemy, he chose to heal others at the first opportunity, rather than conserve his magic.”
“Compared to our former S-class, he still falls short.”
The gray-haired man glanced sideways and corrected, “The past ‘him’ would also choose to save everyone while on a mission—”
“But the Elemental Master simultaneously dealt with enemies and saved everyone. That’s the difference.” The man with gold-rimmed glasses subtly hinted at the disparity in strength between the two saviors.
However, he didn’t intend to continue this discussion; instead, he shifted topics: “By the way, why is our S-class still alone?”
“He has a small team directly under him.”
“No, I’m not talking about subordinates. Shouldn’t there be a beautiful female protagonist by the side of the protagonist?”
“He has rejected that suggestion countless times. As for the reason, I believe I need not elaborate.”
After the gray-haired man finished speaking, a brief silence enveloped the two.
They both knew about the “End Fragment” incident and understood what this new S-class had gone through to join the academy. It seemed that even after three years, the figure of that girl was still deeply etched in his soul.
“Then let’s try again. I have a good list of names; there must be a girl who fits his preferences.”
In the end, the man with gold-rimmed glasses patted the gray-haired man on the shoulder and turned to leave the rooftop.
The latter continued to gaze at the silver moon above, silently lighting the cigarette in his hand.
At that moment, a noise came through his earpiece, followed by a flirtatious male voice.
“Thanks to the commotion caused by the magical creature, we successfully got the item. Do you need me to hurry back?”
“No need. The S-class took care of the incident on the way.” The gray-haired man exhaled a puff of smoke, the white mist curling around his face, obscuring his features. “Remember to write a report before tomorrow, explaining why you, the Ace, did not arrive at the scene in time.”
“And make sure all those involved in this operation stay silent.”
“Oh? Are you planning to take action against your comrades in the organization?”
“Fighting against the whimsical creatures has always been a dangerous affair, hasn’t it?”
—————–
Tokyo, headquarters of Teruhang Sema.
In the conference room located on the nineteenth floor of the headquarters building.
The door opened, and Kanade, dressed in the Moon Academy uniform, walked in with a steady pace.
Kanade was called to Tokyo for a meeting by Teruhang Sema.
The recent emergency action against the whimsical magical creature that appeared in Tokyo was not initially in his plans; he had been called in unexpectedly.
However, his appearance was clearly a disruption to certain people’s plans—though he still didn’t know which faction was pulling the strings behind this incident.
This extraordinary disaster was filled with all kinds of “coincidences.” In Tokyo, where Teruhang Sema’s headquarters is located, a threat of rank 8 appeared out of nowhere, and just happened to have the Ace-level ability user guarding the headquarters away from Tokyo, leaving only a regular team of ability users to fight.
Moreover, the Ace who should have been dispatched to deal with the rank was also unable to make it—
And the private jet he boarded happened to enter Tokyo from the opposite air route of the extraordinary disaster scene. Had he not sensed a familiar magic reaction and rushed over, that regular team would have clearly been wiped out.
Since the girl left his life, he no longer believed in any “coincidences”; it was evident that someone had deliberately orchestrated this situation.
Although his intervention allowed them to survive, the individuals behind the scenes were unlikely to let them off easily.
Thus, Kanade immediately had those individuals relieved of their duties on the frontlines of Teruhang Sema to minimize the threats of death they might encounter.
Kanade silently took a seat at the end of the long conference table, and the secretary standing nearby promptly placed the meeting documents in front of him.
However, his thoughts were not on the content of these documents. His fingertips toyed with a strand of invisible magic fragment, these violet-black shards radiating tiny starlights, the very familiarity of the magic reaction he sensed from the incident.
“…End, what exactly is your purpose?” Kanade silently pondered.
At that moment.
The meeting’s theme seemed to have reached the reporting phase by Kanade. All the high-level personnel of Teruhang Sema turned their attention to him, light shining from behind, elongating his shadow.
Though Kanade’s current identity was still that of a student from Moon Academy, he was simultaneously one of the “protagonist substitutes” selected by both Teruhang Sema and Moon Academy, rated as S-class, and he was almost the “Ace” of both organizations.
His main task was—
“I regret to inform you that we still haven’t eliminated the End.”
Kanade began to speak calmly.
Indeed.
He and his special operations team had, from the past to the present, had only one primary mission: “To pursue and eliminate the End across the world.”
Although his “absolute nemesis of the End” enhancement remained, after multiple encounters, it was clear that the End had found ways to counter it, making the elimination of it increasingly difficult.
“However, this time we heavily injured it, and the last appearance location was in the tropical rainforest of South America. Please refer to the detailed coordinates in the report we submitted earlier. For now, it has no means to act, and during this operation, the ‘vaccine’ still functioned against the powers of the End.”
Kanade briefly reported the concerns of the high-level personnel present at Teruhang Sema.
This was his agreement with Teruhang Sema and Moon Academy—he assisted them with the End issue, while he became their chosen “protagonist substitute,” gradually gaining trust and authority from the organization.
In other words, Kanade aimed to take the position once held by the “Elemental Master.”
Only in this way could he thoroughly grasp information regarding the “protagonist plan” and find methods and resources to “revive” that girl—
After three years of effort, Kanade felt he was close to that position.
He just needed to resolve the other “protagonist substitute.”
And regarding this issue, there was another matter that needed clarity—
“Next matter.”
“Concerning the action trajectories of whimsical magical creatures around the world, I believe it’s time to draw a conclusion.”
As his voice fell.
A blue-and-white global map appeared on the display screen, with various points lighting up and extinguishing, as if depicting some “slowly approaching immense silhouette.”
“Three years have passed since the death of the protagonist on the ‘Book of the Future.’” As Kanade spoke these words, the sharp pain in his soul nearly made him forget to breathe.
“If their target truly is the name decoded from the ‘Book of the Future,’ then they would have completed their mission long ago.”
“But until now, they are still active, causing one extraordinary disaster after another.”
“Combining all the intelligence we have gathered over these three years, I believe we can narrow down the conclusion to two final possibilities—”
“The first point is that their target—‘the true protagonist’ is still alive.” As Kanade uttered this statement, a powerful sense of oppression inadvertently fell upon all present, causing everyone to momentarily feel the fear of being eyed by a top predator.
Kanade cast a cold gaze around, seemingly issuing a silent warning.
“The second point is that what we call a ‘protagonist’ is not a single individual. When the world loses one protagonist, a new ‘protagonist’ will emerge, and they are attempting to find and kill the ‘new protagonist’ again.”
This too served as a kind of warning.
Kanade was trying to use this conclusion to incite the urgency among the high-ranking officials present—this world needed a new protagonist, not a so-called “protagonist substitute.” Otherwise, if the actions of whimsical magical creatures led to the potential “new protagonist” being killed again, who knows when this world might see the next “protagonist” appear.
“I’m finished.” Kanade closed the terminal in his hand, like a concluding full stop.
The conference room fell silent for several seconds.
Finally, the man sitting at the long table adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and asked calmly, “We understand Mr. Tsukimi’s concerns. Soon, we will engage with the Star Academy regarding this matter—privately speaking, I’ve actually been dissatisfied with them for quite some time.”
Upon hearing this, the high-ranking officials of Teruhang Sema looked at each other with puzzled expressions. In response, the man with gold-rimmed glasses smiled, “Their protagonist substitute—Glimmer has been out of contact for quite a while.”
“However, the Star Academy has consistently refrained from providing any comments on this matter.”
“Perhaps Mr. Tsukimi could accompany us to the Star Academy; I believe your presence would make negotiations easier.”
