Chapter: 127. The Savior’s Lie
The magical fluctuations generated by the arrival of Nyarlathotep caused violent tremors throughout the Infinite Academy.
On the top floor of the administrative building of the Infinite Academy.
Kanade felt the shaking beneath his feet and gazed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows at the towering figure in the distance, an existence that defied description. Just a glance made his head throb.
What surprised Kanade even more was that he could feel Kurokawa’s magic from that unimaginable fantasy creature.
“Is that… Xiaomi? Kurokawa’s contracted beast?” Kanade couldn’t help but murmur.
“That’s right, ACE Midrash. His contracted beast has always been one of our secret weapons in Special Circle SEMA,” Adam’s voice confirmed from beside him.
“That’s why I’ve always had it stay by your side to protect you. Until you become the true protagonist, we’ll do everything we can to ensure your safety.” After Adam finished speaking, he pushed open the office door. “Niko, could you take Tsukimi Kanade to a safe place?”
“What?” Kanade’s expression revealed confusion and shock upon hearing this.
“Since fantasy creatures are attacking here with such force, it means they have locked onto the ‘protagonist.’ Tsukimi Kanade, you are their target, and for safety’s sake, you need to evacuate immediately.”
As soon as Adam finished speaking, Niko interjected from the side, “One of the targets.”
Niko clarified, and his intention was obvious. Although the fantasy creatures were attacking here, there were two “protagonist candidates” present—Kanade and himself—so it couldn’t be definitively said that Kanade was the destined “protagonist.”
While saying this, Niko stealthily met Kanade’s gaze.
A warning flashed in Kanade’s mind from the other party.
“Tsukimi Kanade, leave this to ACE Midrash and the other espers. As the future protagonist, there’s no need for you to risk joining this battle,” Adam continued to persuade Kanade, ignoring Niko’s words. “Once the other ACEs in Special Circle SEMA find Hoshimiya Nagi, I will have them escort her safely to ‘Moon Academy.'”
“Moon Academy?”
“Exactly. Special Circle SEMA has reached a cooperation with Moon Academy. We will arrange for you to be trained there until you can become a capable protagonist.” While speaking, Adam manipulated the terminal in his hand, seemingly contacting the espers to escort Kanade away from the Infinite Academy.
“In the ‘Sanctuary’ of the three major academies, fantasy creatures cannot easily invade like today. There, both you and Hoshimiya Nagi will be very safe—”
But before Adam could finish, another wave of powerful magical fluctuations hit.
This time, the violent shaking made the entire administrative building teeter.
“It seems things aren’t that simple,” Niko squinted at the suddenly rising gray fog in the distance, his starry eyes shining with dazzling light.
“This is another fantasy creature’s domain… Its rank is equivalent to Midrash?” In an instant, Adam understood what the mass of gray fog was.
“Looks like ACE Midrash can’t handle them all alone this time—”
Niko shifted his gaze from the indescribable massive form of Nyarlathotep to other corners of the campus.
There, the silhouettes of other fantasy creatures were present.
After Nyarlathotep’s appearance, they should have been influenced by the chaotic authority, yet they instead became objects of the time stop field.
However, after the appearance of this gray fog, they broke free from the stasis and the magical power emanating from them surged up a level.
Clearly, all of this was influenced by the gray fog.
“The fantasy creatures this time… are clearly well-prepared. They have specific roles. Not only do they have fantasy creatures targeting ACE Midrash, but they also sent a large number to attack ordinary civilians, distracting our combat power…” Niko’s mind worked rapidly, and under the influence of his starry power, he gained a thinking loop reminiscent of the Elemental Sovereign.
So he quickly realized the true objective of the fantasy creature invasion this time—
“Something’s not right; they’re stalling for time…” Niko’s expression turned heavy as he murmured:
“Even if this level of attack can delay Midrash, it shouldn’t be able to defeat all the ACE-level espers in the academy, let alone take the protagonist’s life… What exactly is the true purpose of these fantasy creatures…”
“Let’s join the battle as well, Mr. Elemental Sovereign.” Kanade’s voice was resolute, his gaze coldly fixed on the countless rings of light floating in the air as he calmly stated, “Although we don’t know why they’re stalling for time, if we can eliminate them first, we can thwart their plans.”
— This time, I won’t allow any harm to come to Nagi, and I won’t let you escape again.
“Tsukimi Kanade, this action is too reckless. You are the target of the fantasy creatures; the other side might just want to use this means to lure you into battle. Before you become the true protagonist, it would be more reasonable to head to Moon Academy first—”
“—I’m sorry, but I refuse.” Kanade interrupted Adam, turning to him with a serious expression: “I am not the protagonist you are looking for, nor will I become the one who… saves the world.”
— I just want to stay by that girl’s side, protecting her happy smile until the last moment of my life.
————————————-
Directly above the Infinite Academy.
Another battlefield in the high skies.
Nyarlathotep’s chaotic authority affected the barrier created by Nagi, nearly breaking its invincible defense, forcing her to start dodging or countering the attacks.
Garuda’s petite and agile figure accompanied Nagi, guarding the blind spots in her line of sight.
This feeling of fighting side by side made Nagi reminisce about the past life she led.
Back then, she summoned Garuda through a forbidden method on Nanase Island and signed a contract with it. Every time she fought against the fantasy creatures to save the world, they would stand side by side as they did today.
It was supposed to be a time of tireless toil as a “corporate savior” for the sake of saving the world.
But at this moment.
Nagi learned the truth of the past; it was all nothing but a lie.
The “Savior” was a grand deception.
In the original story of “Star Draw 2,” the official plot publicly revealed the origins of the fantasy creatures. They were born in the future and traveled through time to the past. However, upon crossing through time, they uncontrollably lost part of their memories and understanding, thus needing to complete their missions guided by a “battle plan.”
This characteristic led to a divergence among the fantasy creatures—with the orthodox fantasy creatures seeking to achieve the “goal” and the “contract beasts” that had lost memories and understanding, having signed contracts with humans, ultimately turning into opposing forces by accident.
But in reality, all the fantasy creatures had one single goal— to kill the protagonist.
So when Nagi discovered the “Book of the Future” in her past life, she directly helped Special Circle SEMA and the three major academies by ‘translating’ the entire book based on her memories as a hardcore player of the original game materials of “Star Draw 1” and “Star Draw 2.”
However, contrary to Nagi’s expectations, her translation based on the original material was incorrect.
Her interference in this world led to a complete transformation in the properties and goals of the fantasy creatures.
Indeed, since coming to this world, everything she had done was a misunderstanding.
Nagi had long forgotten why she was brought into the world of “Star Draw” and what her purpose was after arriving.
Now, according to the goals of the fantasy creatures, the answer to that question finally emerged—
“This time, even if we fail to unite the power of humanity, we must succeed in killing you – the undeserving protagonist! Only in this way can this world be saved from your destruction!!!”
The so-called savior was nothing but a lie.
Her purpose for coming to the world of “Star Draw” was not to save this trash world; on the contrary, everything she did in her past life was to destroy this trash world.
That was why the fantasy creatures would stop at nothing to traverse time and return to the past, aiming to kill her; they, were the true saviors.
This was also the truth behind why Special Circle SEMA and the three major academies united to stop and kill her back then—
For this world, she was its greatest enemy.
(“Hikari-kun, if it’s you, you can surely bring this world— to an end, and in that case, I can finally die as I wish.”)
