kscans

Chapter 55 - Betrayal or Miracle, Thunder and Rebellion

On the Throne Level, Core Ark, the situation had tilted towards despair.

The betrayal of Gilliam, whom they had thought an ally. The silence of Bolt.

Ares and Tiris were, quite literally, isolated and without support.

Crow Sakakibara slowly rose from his steel throne and delivered a declaration of victory.

"You have been dancing in the palm of my hand from the very beginning."

His artificial eye glinted.

"Behavioral predictions, thought patterns, emotional branching, all calculated. Your reactions are within the margin of error."

Tiris gritted her teeth. "...No... to think everything was read..."

Crow spread his arms and continued proudly.

"I have continued to pursue rationality. Emotions, impulses, they are unnecessary. I have obtained perfection."

But.

At that moment, the corners of Ares's mouth slowly curled up.

"...That's what I've been trying to tell you, Crow-chan."

Crow's expression twitched.

"You don't know the first thing about human nature, do you..."

"...What? Are you saying there is 'noise' in me?"

Ares slowly raised his hand and grinned.

"I'll quadruple your reward! Do it as planned!!"

In that instant.

"Understood."

Bolt, who had muttered quietly, suddenly deployed a lightning magic circle.

"Black Lightning Magic, Thunderbolt!!"

Zugaann!!

Black lightning roared, burning through Crow's mechanical armor. Magic coils short-circuited, and sparks flew.

"Wh-!? ...Why, Bolt!! You too were calculated to be my subordinate!!"

"Sorry about that. I'm not good at having my emotions read."

At the same time, Gilliam circled around behind him, laughing.

"Hello there... this is the real deal, yes it is."

Spa!

With a single flash of his dagger, he slashed the connection port for the power cord on the back of the magic armor.

"Code, severed, yes. It's a kill, yes it is."

In that moment.

For the first time, Crow's artificial eye wavered slightly.

It was not anger.

It was fear.

"This... unforeseen... error... too large...!!"

Ares muttered quietly.

"Before you were reincarnated, you died after being betrayed by your allies... you're Masato Sakakibara, aren't you."

Crow's body trembled. "...That name..."

"You didn't understand, did you? Why you were betrayed.

I'll tell you.

Humans are greedy creatures who can't resist their five great desires. You, who seeks perfection... have already been defeated."

Ares chanted a spell.

"Instantaneous Transfer Formula, Close-Range Leap."

Ares's figure vanished, and in the next moment, appeared right in front of Crow.

"It's over!!"

He swung his black sword in a flash.

Spa!!

The slash cut diagonally across Crow's artificial eye.

"...Ah..."

A spray of blood danced, and Crow's face was stained a faint crimson.

"Error... visual cortex damage... error... loss of thought control..."

His mechanical body dropped to its knees and slowly fell backward.

"Function... ceas... ing..."

The magic armor collapsed, and silence fell upon the Throne Level.

But within that silence, Crow's consciousness alone saw fragments of his past float up like a revolving lantern.

A boy. Hardworking, calm, and with better grades than anyone else. And yet... no one understood him. Isolation. And then, the betrayal of his allies. Misunderstood by the world, he committed suicide in despair.

"...Why... I... was perfect... I should have been..."

That whisper reached no one, and quietly sank into the abyss of the information space.