The Villain’s POV in the Academy

Chapter 57

[……That’s all.]

“W-wait, are you saying that ‘method’ will really work?”

At Aaron’s short yet novel tactical explanation, Iri raised a doubt.

Of course, she knew Aaron wouldn’t joke in a situation like this. It was just such an unexpected method that she had asked without thinking.

Aaron replied briefly in return.

[Do you have another way?]

“……No.”

Right. There really wasn’t another way.

If there’s nothing to lose, the only choice was to follow his lead.

“Hoo……”

Iri steadied her mind with a deep breath and lifted her shield again. The weight transferred through the left-hand grip felt heavy.

The horde of zombies, the slope, the Buddha statue.

The number of creatures surging up from the waterway below was considerable. Slow, but steadily eating up the space as they advanced.

In front of the Buddha statue, Araya—the one responsible for all this—was staring this way. A black smile, impossible to read, hung on his lips.

And Silence.

He staggered, but gripped his weapon tight. A short dagger about 30 cm long. Its paper-thin blade caught the gas lamp light of the main hall, glinting faintly.

‘Even after losing his reason, his combat skills remain?’

A 3rd-year from the Tactical Combat Department.

It didn’t look like this would be easy……

[Let’s give it a try. Hold the entrance!]

[Understood.]

Iri exchanged signals with Maria.

At the same time, she kicked off from her spot.

Kwaang!

The moment her foot hit the ground, a shockwave erupted as if the earth itself was about to collapse.

None of the combat modules she had equipped boosted physical strength. The shockwave was entirely from her own pure specs.

The next moment—

She was already right in front of Araya. Her plan was to raise her shield and slam it into him head-on.

“Hnngh!”

“……!”

Right before impact, she pressed her shoulder against the back of the shield for added force. Using the momentum from her charge, she pushed forward with all her might.

But her attack never landed.

As if they’d been waiting, Silence—controlled by Araya—and Stingray soldiers blocked her path.

Kkaddu-ddu-dduk-!

Her shield was caught by the blade Silence thrust out. Sparks flew as the thin blade clashed against the shield’s plating.

“Urghh!”

A tense struggle of strength.

Even with Iri’s superior pure specs, she couldn’t overpower Silence, who had combat modules equipped. On top of that, zombies were rushing her from both sides.

And that was exactly what she had been aiming for.

“Maria!”

Taaang-!

At Iri’s shout, Maria’s gun roared. Iri crouched low in sync, and over her head Maria’s large-caliber rounds tore through the zombies charging from both flanks.

[That was my last round!]

[I know!]

Using their difference in height—

Iri took a lower position than Silence and lifted his body. With Silence hanging on her shield, she charged straight into the waterway where the zombies were swarming.

Like a war chariot, she crashed through the zombies climbing the slope.

Chwaaaash!

Water that had been up to her shins surged high from the impact. In the middle of the spray, Silence and Iri locked into another clash of strength.

“Damn it……!”

Even now, he didn’t lose his balance—just what kind of absurd sense of equilibrium was that? Her original plan had been to knock him down and make him swallow as much water as possible.

But like this, she couldn’t even make him drink. Worse, they were now surrounded by zombies. What she’d tried as a desperate move had turned into the worst possible situation.

[I-I failed! What do we do?!]

Iri shouted over the internal comms.

Aaron’s original orders had been this—

—Make him drink water.

—Water? You mean drinking water?

—Didn’t they say the facility was remodeled from an underground waterway? If you make him drink the water flowing there, he should snap out of it.

While Iri was about to ask what the hell he meant, Maria seemed to grasp Aaron’s intent right away.

—Anti-rain.

—Right.

Aaron confirmed.

—His ability is ‘hacking’ techniques applied with ‘magic’. To use magic, you need ‘mana’. And the most effective substance against that ‘mana’ is……

—Anti-rain.

Iri finished his words.

An artificial rainfall scattered to drive out Mystics and prevent the distortion phenomena they caused. In it were chemical agents that disrupted ‘mana’.

Of course, it was hardly good for the human body, and there was no telling how effective diluted amounts would be on the target’s ability.

But without anti-magic equipment or anything else, that was the only option they had.

—Since it’s the underground waterway, the anti-rain will have pooled there. If you make him drink that water, it should break the magic controlling people and corpses.

—A-are you sure about that?

—I don’t know.

At Aaron’s immediate answer, Iri asked in disbelief.

—W-what do you mean you don’t know?

—I can’t be certain the water in that waterway contains enough anti-rain. So its effectiveness isn’t guaranteed.

—But we have no choice but to try.

—Exactly.

Aaron nodded.

—Deal with Silence and the Stingray Adaptees first. If you can get them to snap out of it, they’ll be a huge help.

—Understood.

—Alright, I’ll do it.

When Iri and Maria nodded, Aaron added one last thing.

—And whatever you do, never engage Araya’s real body head-on. Focus only on holding out until I arrive.

That was the operation briefing, and I had planned to start by breaking the magic on Silence, who was closest.

But Silence’s resistance was tougher than expected, so my first attempt ended in failure.

To make matters worse—

“So that’s what it was.”

It seemed Araya had caught on to our plan.

“The waterway contains anti-rain, so all you need to do is use it… It’s one thing to figure out the nature of my ability, but to come up with such a method on the spot is remarkable. Even if a similar scene appeared in the original, adapting it is another matter entirely.”

[What’s that bastard saying?]

[Ignore him.]

Aaron answered Iri’s question curtly.

Then he immediately gave further orders.

[Now that our move’s been exposed, the same method won’t work again.]

As Aaron said, the enemy instantly changed tactics. Instead of letting Silence face Iri head-on, he pulled him back behind the other zombie hordes.

“W-wait! Where are you going…!”

[Don’t chase him. You’re already surrounded.]

Silence vanished into the horde as if melting away.

When Iri was about to charge again, Aaron stopped her. Meanwhile, the zombies began closing in on her.

Seeing this, Aaron issued new instructions.

[Maria. Buy time at the waterway. Protect Iri and stall for three minutes… No, make it two.]

[Understood.]

Following his order, Maria, who had been blocking zombies pouring in from the outer corridor, joined Iri.

But once Maria abandoned her role as the gatekeeper at the narrow entrance, a large zombie swarm began flooding into the main hall.

It became easier for the two to back each other up, but it was like uncorking a bottle and letting everything spill out.

Zombies poured in like a tide.

Iri frowned.

[This position is low ground, and the water underfoot is slippery. If they attack from the altar above, we’ll be helpless. We need to retake the high ground somehow…]

[This is the best we can do for now. Focus on the footsteps and watch your back.]

[E-easy for you to say!]

The order was dubious, but there was no choice but to follow it.

The two of them started fending off the advancing zombies, striking and shoving them away to buy time.

Then—

Splash, splash—the sound of footsteps in the water.

A different presence than the ordinary zombies suddenly appeared from behind.

“Ugh…!?”

I instinctively swung my shield backward to guard my body.

At the same time, a chilling, razor-sharp glint deflected off the shield.

Chaang—!

Scarlet sparks burst.

For a moment, I thought a bullet had been fired, but the speed and force didn’t match.

I immediately checked the location the attack had come from—but there was nothing there.

‘W-what the hell?’

In that moment of doubt—

Splash, again.

This time it came from right beside me, and I quickly blocked.

Kaaang—!

Once more, sparks flew off my shield.

But again, the attacker was nowhere to be seen. I called out to Maria, who was covering my rear.

[Maria! Did you see that just now?]

[See what?]

Maria was still busy taking down the zombies rushing her. It seemed she hadn’t noticed anything that had just happened.

Aaron cleared up the mystery.

[It’s Silence.]

[W-what?]

[He’s skilled in ambush and stealth. Don’t lose track of his footsteps.]

[Ah…!]

Now I understood.

This was why Aaron had insisted on fighting in a spot with standing water.

He had already seen through Silence’s abilities and knew how dangerous he was.

‘If not for the water, I wouldn’t have even noticed before getting hit…!’

Even in water, the sound was faint—it was terrifying to think what it would be like on normal ground.

‘But still…’

Even if it was to counter Silence’s abilities, this was still a bad location to fight.

The water made the floor slippery, making it hard to keep balance, and every step met resistance that doubled the effort.

And because it was low ground, stopping zombies from jumping down from the slope above was a constant struggle.

Naturally, the two of us tired quickly. Our breathing grew ragged, and wet hair clung to our foreheads, dripping water.

Silence’s relentless strikes aimed at any opening—attacks we couldn’t even see—wore down our focus little by little.

Eventually, Maria was the first to take a hit.

“Urgh…!”

“Maria!”

Her mechanical arm was slashed.

The cut was so deep it pierced through her skin armor and subdermal armor, almost exposing the inner mechanical parts.

Circuits in the wounded section sparked, and her hand began to tremble unnaturally. If she kept fighting, the arm would almost certainly be severed entirely.

From atop the slope at the altar, Araya watched with a mocking smile.

“Looks like you’re reaching your limit. Good. The longer this drags on, the worse it is for me. Time to wrap this up.”

Snap!

With a flick of his fingers, a squad of soldiers appeared from somewhere.

Clad in military powered armor and armed with large-caliber rifles, they took position on the slope above and aimed at the two of us fighting the zombies.

“We don’t have much time, so capture the silver-haired one quickly. The Asian one can be killed.”

Click-clack.

On command, they opened fire all at once.

I hurriedly raised my shield, stepping in front of Maria.

Tatatatatatatata—!

“Urgh…!”

Bullets hammered the shield without pause.

The force was so strong I almost dropped it, but I activated the [Thousand Pound Weight] module and mustered every bit of strength I had to hold.

[Damn it! When are you coming? You said just two minutes!]

[Almost there.]

“Uwaaaah!”

Even as I screamed endlessly over the internal comms, Aaron’s voice remained calm.

Maybe he could be so composed only because he wasn’t the one fighting on the scene.

It was infuriating—but somehow, that calmness was also strangely reassuring.

[Hold on just a little longer.]

[Stop saying that!!]

With bullets pouring down like rain, it felt like my arms were about to be torn off. I couldn’t stay standing any longer and dropped to my knees—just then, as if waiting for that moment, one of them fired something.

Jjjjjjik!

“Urgh?!”

A powerful current surged through the standing water on the floor. It seemed to be a taser round.

In an instant, my cyberware malfunctioned and my vision went black. My whole body lost strength, and in the end, I dropped my shield. Both of us collapsed onto the ground.

“At last, it’s over. Bring them in quickly.”

Step, step.

Silence and the soldiers began approaching us.

I tried to use my shield like a cane to get up somehow, but this wasn’t something willpower could overcome.

[Da… mn… it…!]

[Iri. Stay with me.]

[Y-you… too… late…!]

I muttered complaints to Aaron as if blaming him.

Silence twisted my arm behind my back to subdue me. Forcing me to my knees, he cuffed my wrists, swept my long hair aside, and reached for the socket to insert a behavior control chip.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t resist.

This was the end.

Aaron had been too late after all.

Or so I thought—

[No. I’m not late.]

Kugugugugugugu—!

From somewhere came a roar, shaking the entire main hall. Silence, the soldiers, even Araya paused and looked up toward the ceiling.

“……?”

An earthquake?

I was about to wonder that when—

Kugugugugugugugugu—!

Another strange tremor rattled the underground waterway. I stood there bewildered, unsure what was going on, when—

“D-damn it…!”

Araya cursed as if realizing something, and at the same time Aaron’s voice came through the internal comms.

[Hold your breath and activate your module!]

[What’s going on…!]

No, there was no need to ask.

When I came to my senses, the water in the waterway had already risen to my waist.

‘This is—!’

I snapped out of it and used the last of my strength to shove the soldiers away. I threw my body over Maria’s, took a deep breath, and activated my module.

‘Module Online, [Thousand Pound Weight]!’

A strong gravitational force emanated from my body, pulling me down and anchoring me to the floor.

Silence tried to wrench me up from the ground, but there was no way he could overcome the power of an Lv.4 Arcane Module.

And then, in the distance, I began to hear a strange sound.

Swaaaaa…!

What had been faint instantly grew nearer until it roared like thunder. In that final moment, I saw it—

Surging through the sewer—

A massive torrent.