Chapter: 149. Star Palace Nagi is the End
“Mr. Adam? Are you really planning to deploy the elite forces of SEMA to Kawano City?”
The secretary was surprised by Adam’s next move.
SEMA had yet to confirm the whereabouts of their target, yet they were mobilizing the existing elite forces at SEMA Headquarters.
Adam’s reckless gamble prompted the secretary to respond in disbelief, and even some members of the SEMA Board expressed their opposition.
“Adam, while you are the current chief of SEMA, it doesn’t mean you can arbitrarily manipulate the people of SEMA to satisfy your personal opinions,” another board member sternly accused.
His words were met with nods from other members present in the holographic projection.
“Everyone, do you really understand the current situation? The enemy we face this time is our greatest foe from the past.” As Adam spoke, a photograph appeared beside him.
It was a long-range secretly taken photo of a girl with long black hair.
Many members of the SEMA board present in the 3D projection gasped softly at the beauty of the girl in the photo.
“Star Palace Nagi.” As Adam introduced her to the other board members, he displayed Star Palace Nagi’s past experiences and several extraordinary events that had occurred related to her.
“She was born in Kawano City, a miraculous place that had not experienced a single extraordinary disaster for nearly 13 years. You must understand that fantasy monsters always search for their ‘protagonists,’ yet they never reached this small city in Japan during those 13 years… the probability is virtually zero.”
“Moreover, the most important point is—during those 13 years, we never found this city strange until a trace of power appeared, and the ACE hybrid dragon princess from Sun Academy was ordered to infiltrate the local SEMA branch.”
As soon as Adam finished speaking, a board member picked up the thread: “The Pseudo-God White Spirit incident.”
“Exactly, what we are most familiar with in that city is the ‘Pseudo-God White Spirit’ incident, a protagonist plan that was once declared a failure by Moon Academy, but was colluded with local former ACE heroes and remnants of the Stellar Society to create a highly ranked artificial fantasy monster, which even possessed the power of Twilight…” Adam paused, casting a sharp gaze across the faces of each board member in the holographic projection.
“The power of Twilight, there was a record that once submitted by the ACE hybrid dragon princess to SEMA, it should have remained in SEMA’s storage.” Adam’s words were laden with unspoken implications.
There were accomplices of the “Pseudo-God White Spirit” incident within SEMA, or perhaps they could also be called traitors.
Unfortunately, Adam didn’t find any unusual expressions on anyone’s face.
And the SEMA board members pretended not to notice the meaning behind Adam’s words, knowing that in the current emergency situation, any internal conflict would be extremely irrational.
Fully aware of this, Adam continued with the topic—
“Initially, we thought that the peace of Kawano City for those 13 years was related to the artificial fantasy monster—the Pseudo-God White Spirit… but recently we noticed a startling coincidence.”
“That is, during these 13 years of peace, it coincided exactly with the 13 years since Star Palace Nagi’s birth.”
“Why couldn’t it be Tsukimi Kanade? He seems to have grown up in Kawano City as well.” A board member raised a question.
“It’s simple, because Kawano City is not Tsukimi Kanade’s birthplace; he was later adopted by his uncle and aunt living in Kawano City and moved there only when he was four.” Adam replied succinctly to the board member who hadn’t carefully examined the character profile.
“Of course, I believe many people think this is merely a coincidence. So let’s compare it to the second incident.”
Adam enlarged the image of another event—the fox shrine maiden lurking in Kawano City.
This was reported by “Makino Ichirou,” a member of the SEMA branch in Kawano City, following the “Stellar Descent” incident.
“A mysterious figure lurking in Kawano City, appearing to wear a bizarre fox mask and dressed in a red and white miko outfit. According to Makino’s report, this person seemed to be quietly dealing with the ‘artificial fantasy monsters’ in Kawano City, maintaining the ‘peace of Kawano City.'”
“Before the Pseudo-God White Spirit was exposed, no one knew that Kawano City would naturally give rise to an endless number of artificial fantasy monsters. However, once this matter became known, a fox shrine maiden appeared right away to maintain the peace in Kawano City, seeking to conceal her existence by using Makino, a member of SEMA.”
At this point, several board members began to agree with Adam’s bold hypothesis.
“If everyone is still unwilling to believe that all this is not mere coincidence, then let’s take a look at the third incident—’Stellar Reappearance.’ After the Stellar Descent ceremony, Makino received the assistance of this fox shrine maiden and correctly activated the internal response measures of SEMA at the critical moment.”
“Subsequently, the ‘End Container’ revived by the Stellar Society was defeated by the fox shrine maiden, and the aura of the end nearly disappeared at the scene. There wasn’t even a fragment left inside the container ‘Tenjoin Ameya,’ and the entire Kawano City wasn’t infected by the power of the end.”
“Everyone, imagine a presence lurking beside the ‘protagonist,’ familiar with the processes within SEMA and the three major academies, possessing the power to defeat the end while completely erasing the end’s infection and power. It sounds like—”
“—the end… the true body.” A SEMA board member murmured the voice of everyone present.
“Lastly, if we investigate the ‘End Descent’ incident at the Ark Academy, we will know that at the time of the end’s descent, Star Palace Nagi was one of the parties present, and she had no reason to be there. Moreover, up until now, neither Ark Academy nor SEMA has conducted a thorough investigation on her.”
“All clues point to the final answer.”
“Star Palace Nagi is— the end.”
“In this way, we can understand why Star Palace Nagi has the ability to combat all fantasy monsters of this era, as her power is lethal for the contractors.”
“She was not killed with us and the elemental rulers at the altar back then; her soul escaped at the last moment, transforming into Star Palace Nagi, hiding in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to regain her former power, just like she devoured the end container in Kawano City and the consumable ‘Nanjo Akane’ from Moon Academy in the Ark Academy.”
“And now she is right beside the ‘protagonist candidate,’ Tsukimi Kanade. While we haven’t yet figured out her intentions, everyone should ponder: is now really the time to leisurely gather all the evidence before we take action? Do we want to repeat the same mistake and allow another protagonist to be consumed by the end?”
Adam’s passionate speech earned the approval of all SEMA board members.
Though some were curious about “why the end, being a fantasy monster, would oppose other fantasy monsters,” it was clear that now was not the time for such discussions.
Even if Adam was mistaken this time, it was still better than remaining inactive.
This world could no longer afford the sacrifice of another protagonist.
“Adam, please tell us your plan.”
“It’s very simple, just two steps.” Adam said with a serious expression:
“Step one, we will find a way to separate him from the end without alarming it.”
“Step two, before the end has fully regained its former power, we will mobilize all the strength of SEMA and the three major academies and do everything we can to kill it.”
