Episode 90: Butterfly Escape
There is no S Rank at Jilnias Academy.
However, the reason this academy is called one of the Four Great Schools lies solely in its technological prowess.
The wisdom that has elevated this academy to one of the Four Greats in less than ten years comes from analyzing and dissecting a world where the conventional norms of dungeons do not apply, turning it into the nourishment of civilization.
In an academy where wisdom decides everything, the title of true strength does not belong to the Student Council President.
And obtaining that title was considered the most glorious honor within Jilnias Academy.
“Against me, a doctor, how far can you hold out?”
Doctor, which is to say, the title of omniscience.
The accumulation of knowledge commonly referred to as the Society. The doctor is the sole existence permitted to connect to the multiple advocacy spaces, and there cannot be any gaps in their knowledge.
—Except when compared to identical entities.
“Boring dance. Is this your taste, Silver Twilight?”
A silver meteor streaks through the laboratory.
Despite the sudden combat, both parties had clear goals for their actions.
A great scythe tears through a butterfly, but new butterflies emerge to attempt to bind Solciera.
The small butterflies that never approach Kanon herself seem to be quite the unfavorable opponent for Solciera.
“A dreary color for butterflies. Why don’t you make them more dazzling?”
“If that’s your preference, I’ll do so.”
Divided Death surrounds the girl before her eyes.
But the girl elegantly breaks through the encirclement as if dancing.
(Truly impressive, Solciera. No wonder it’s a hot topic in the Society.)
Solciera, the Queen of Star Readers and the progenitor of all Demons Gear.
As the arbiter who oversees six Demon Gears, she normally doesn’t appear on the forefront like this.
Then why does she fight?
Just thinking about it makes one feel exhilarated.
“Divided Death, B Shift.”
The color of the butterflies changes.
The swarm of butterflies, now glowing red-hot, accelerates to bullet speed and charges toward Solciera.
“Don’t worry, even if they hit, they won’t kill you. Divided Death renders opponents powerless by sucking their magic, and you will be thoroughly researched under Silver Twilight.”
“How very foolish of you to say such things against me.”
No fewer than a thousand butterflies charge like machine guns.
But Solciera dodges them all, deflects them with her great scythe, and handles them completely.
(To break through barriers means she’s seen through my moves. Challenging me physically is indeed an accurate action.)
Kanon raises her evaluation of Solciera upon seeing her.
All previous evaluations of Solciera given by the Society paint her as a child who forcibly wins through excessive specs.
Everything stems from the power of the Queen of Star Readers; the abilities or actions of her opponents are meaningless.
Truly, a force worthy of the name of queen.
(Hmm, did battling Professor make her stronger? That guy really only does unnecessary things. If they’d just given him an appropriate name and placed him in Silver Twilight, it would have been better.)
Recalling the genius with questionable personality, Kanon lets out a wry smile.
Right before her eyes, Solciera was already closing in.
“It’s about time you danced for me, isn’t it?”
“Haha, I’m not much of a dancer,” Kanon says as more Divided Death emerges from inside her lab coat.
It’s a reserve Divided Death stored in a special expansion field.
“Ah, finally surprised, huh?”
Solciera immediately tries to create distance, but behind her, Divided Death already covers every gap.
“Checkmate.”
Kanon snaps her fingers.
A red box made of butterflies forms and gradually shrinks, enveloping Solciera.
This unique armament, which absorbs magic upon contact, is the nemesis of explorers. It proves effective against Solciera, who relies on magic.
As the butterfly box shrinks to fit a single girl, it begins absorbing magic. Only the sound of suffering from inside the box can be heard.
“Well then, let me observe slowly. I’ve always been curious about that great scythe of yours. It still seems functional.”
The color of the butterflies gradually returns to purple, proof that the magic has been fully absorbed.
With a flutter, the butterflies disperse, leaving Solciera to collapse to her knees. As she’s about to fall face-first onto the ground, Kanon catches her.
“Oh dear, we wouldn’t want a girl to fall face-first, now would we? All that effort not to hurt you would be wasted.”
Smiling, Kanon strokes Solciera’s hair.
(Completely unconscious due to magical exhaustion. Phew, lucky our compatibility was good. Would Professor have possibly lost? …No, it might have ended in a stalemate.)
Having obtained Solciera herself as a trophy, Kanon laughs.
“All that’s left is to upload her biological data to the Society for everyone to analyze, and that’s it.”
She, being a doctor, could gather data just by touching Solciera’s head. As Kanon connects to the Society and reaches out to Solciera, something happens.
“—Hehe, that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”
The Solciera in her arms opens her eyes and looks at her.
Various possibilities flash through her mind—early awakening, feigned unconsciousness—but everything warns her to get away from her.
Immediately trying to throw Solciera off, Kanon meets her gaze.
(Magus eye…!)
An unknown magical formula carved into her right eye.
Kanon understood from her analysis of the magic that part of it involved the convergence of magic.
But beyond that, what the converged magic converted into remained unclear.
What exactly would Solciera’s magus eye bring about?
(A magus eye… Such data didn’t exist in the Society yet. Where did she obtain it? Or rather, is it a relic, or does Star Reader possess something I don’t know about—)
Multiple hypotheses unfold simultaneously as Kanon tries to ascertain the true nature of the magus eye.
She well knew the dreadfulness of the magus eye.
Genius-level thought processes.
As a doctor, mere speculation that lasted less than 0.01 seconds.
However, that fleeting moment was more than enough for Solciera to move.
“That, I’ll destroy.”
By the time Kanon realized, Solciera’s hand was already touching her neck.
(Bad, Solciera’s ability interferes—)
What happened to Professor.
Why that supposedly immortal existence died.
As a doctor, Kanon knew the answer.
But it was too late.
“Gahh…!”
A sensation akin to sparks in her brain, along with something peeling away. That sense of omnipotence was utterly erased by the girl in her arms.
Her brain couldn’t endure the sudden loss, causing severe headaches and dizziness.
Solciera gracefully stood up from Kanon’s suffering arms and looked down at her, great scythe in hand.
“How do you feel?”
“Terrible… yeah.”
Kanon understood that Solciera’s objective was to strip her of her doctor status. From the beginning, she wasn’t targeting Kanon herself, but the doctor within her.
Thus, this battle wasn’t a matter of life and death for either party but merely to achieve their objectives.
“So despite being terrible…”
If Solciera didn’t intend to kill Kanon…
“Fantastic, isn’t it?”
Doctor Kanon’s defeat disappeared.
■
Hey, something’s wrong with Kanon.
I thought it was fine to just kill the doctor like with Professor…
Isn’t something off here?
“I certainly eliminated the foreign entity within her.”
Yeah, you properly touched and erased it.
Good job managing without magic, seriously.
“It was used for constructing transfer magic and hiding it. Though relying solely on physical capabilities was somewhat concerning.”
We got stuck midway, didn’t we?
Without being held by a beautiful girl, resurrection wasn’t possible.
“It’s impossible normally.”
I was supposed to have eliminated the doctor within Kanon like with Professor.
The disappearance of Kanon’s beauty was because the doctor was coming out.
So I thought to eliminate it at that instant.
In other words, it’s a case of beautiful-girl slapping.
Waiting for the chance, I finally managed to kill it in a 0.01-second opening…
“Let’s play some more!”
“Fufu…”
It’s like this.
Wouldn’t defeating the doctor solve it?
Isn’t it the same as Hikari?
“Hey, didn’t you think removing the doctor from me would be the end? Didn’t you think that? That’s why you interfered specifically targeting the doctor.”
Still, Divided Death continues to chase after me.
Against the radiant beauty that is Kanon now, I have no remaining options.
This was checkmate.
A losing event.
“Alright, I’ve completed the construction. Create an opening, I’ll transfer. A simple convergent artillery attack should suffice.”
Yessir, I’ll shoot down those butterflies!
I deploy a magic circle and fire a convergent artillery attack.
But the butterflies seem to shine brighter upon receiving it.
“It’s futile. They absorb magic. Unless it’s your serious convergent artillery attack, it just becomes energy for them.”
The compatibility is atrocious…
Hey, these butterflies are super dangerous, right?
Last time I was captured, my magic was quickly absorbed, right?
Even now, the butterflies are getting more energetic by feeding on my magic…
“Let me teach you what a doctor truly is.”
Saying that, Kanon leisurely sits down on a chair.
Hey, that’s Solciera’s move, isn’t it?
“A doctor is countless wisdom… well, think of it as a virus. He has already dissolved his human form and transformed everything into data. And he grants his abilities and knowledge to those suitable. That’s us doctors. What you killed was merely a fragment of the doctor.”
You should’ve said that earlier!
Approaching and eliminating it feels stupid now.
I probably had a better chance keeping the doctor while attacking when the beauty dimmed.
“Even if you kill my main body, another doctor will take over. Information is life. Sooner or later, we will surely defeat you… though, I might be able to defeat you now. Since accessing the multiple advocacy space – the Society – is impossible, the lack of updates is inconvenient, but—”
Some weird terms came up again.
I can’t handle this anymore!
After all, it hasn’t appeared in the original work!
“Hey, you thought I was a genius because I’m a doctor, right? You thought I could fight, right?”
Kanon smiles and rubs her hands together.
“No, I became a doctor because I’m a genius and can fight. I had the qualifications.”
“Are you boasting?”
“Just stating facts.”
Butterflies come rushing like waves.
Even if I lose consciousness, interference is no longer allowed.
Without a method like Lutra’s to remotely steal consciousness, my defeat is just a matter of time.
Recently, haven’t I been doing nothing good?
Losing to Nameless as a mysterious beautiful girl, losing to the doctor, has Solciera stepped outside the loop?
“Huh? She’s the top in the environment? She’s a character with rights?”
Then show me your determination!
“You just need to attack. There should be various ways.”
There’s no way I can genuinely attack a beautiful girl.
That’s unacceptable.
Not as a mysterious beautiful girl but for the sake of victory, my soul rejects it.
I don’t know why, but instinct tells me I shouldn’t do it.
“Again with nonsense… Then illusions. Spread the magic circle and ensnare her within the effect range. Suppressing magic is no longer necessary. Since transfer is always possible, create an opening quickly.”
Then I can do it, thanks, Star Reader’s Staff.
“If I could fight, I could rival the beautiful girls too, but—”
While listening to Star Reader’s Staff’s complaints, I dodge the butterflies with my prided dynamic vision.
Throwing the great scythe, I slash the butterflies and create a direct path to Kanon.
“Wow, that’s dangerous.”
Even as the scythe pierces nearby, Kanon keeps smiling.
She must have known it wouldn’t hit.
Anyway, the path is open.
All that’s left is to get within the illusion magic’s range—
“Planning to use illusion magic, aren’t you?”
“Uh…”
Ugh, this person.
“I already downloaded that data in the Society.”
Kanon’s figure sitting on the chair transforms into butterflies scattering around.
Damn, what a stylish avoidance…
“How about the clones I created? Original customizations of Divided Death.”
I find the real Kanon relying on the radiance of beauty.
Leaning against the wall, she operates the window while looking at me.
Waving at me as if knowing I’d find her.
“You’re determining me as the real one through soul observation, right? Don’t rely on that when facing someone at the same level. After all, I can create fakes like this.”
Misjudged the radiance of beauty…!?
Me…!?
“I noticed you were Solciera since the first meeting. Your pursuit of brilliance was fiercely shining. So, I intentionally brought out the doctor to lure you.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about and can barely escape the butterflies.
Really, you shouldn’t confront without a plan, Doctor.
“You have a habit of trying to control everything. Hence, you’re weak against irregularities. When a doctor suddenly appears before your eyes, you panic.”
Grrr, you must feel pretty good speaking so confidently.
I am Solciera!
A mysterious beautiful girl shouldn’t be toyed with like this!
“Even if you activate the illusion magic recklessly, it’s meaningless if that’s a clone. Activating transfer magic takes time… Hmm, what to do. How about destroying the entire lab in second form? If you can produce magic the butterflies can’t drain, that’s also possible, but—”
Shaking my head internally at Star Reader’s Staff’s suggestion.
That’s impossible.
Because I, as a mysterious beautiful girl who lost motivation and without interactions among beauties providing energy, can’t do it.
Damn, I just wanted to go for a walk as a mysterious beautiful girl, why did it turn out like this?
“Look, you’re cornered.”
“Oh, your escorting skills have improved considerably.”
Before I knew it, I was driven into the corner of the room.
This is checkmate.
My voice trembles slightly.
“If you beg cutely, I’ll refrain from tormenting you.”
“…Fufu, you should be the one begging.”
I replied with my best mysterious beautiful girl charm.
But my fate is hanging by a thread.
“Not cute at all. Well then, my win—”
“…”
Butterflies rush forward.
Now, all I have left is desperate transfer.
Star Reader’s Staff! Now’s the time for ultra-fast transfer magic exceeding limits!
“I’m doing it, but it won’t be in time. Besides, my transfer magic is already the fastest among existing ones.”
Seems hopeless…
If there’s even a slight opening, I could escape, but this opponent doesn’t give any.
Facing the approaching butterflies, just as I start constructing the “Mysterious Beautiful Girl Captured but Still Mysterious” plan, something falls from the ceiling vent.
I track it with my eyes.
The enhanced dynamic vision clearly captures its form.
It’s a cute frog often seen on rainy days.
The mechanical creation looks at me, jumps once, and croaks “geko.”
Wait, why is this thing here and isn’t it a bomb—
The frog rapidly inflates and explodes.
The unprecedented explosion burns away countless butterflies and completely covers my vision.
“Now’s the time, partner!”
No idea what happened, but lucky!
Hahaha, see ya, Kanon!
Next time, I’ll be a mysterious beautiful girl for you!
“—Oh, it seems time’s up.”
I utter lines as if everything went according to plan and spread the magic circle.
Then, I immediately transfer.
Where am I going?
“Focused on construction, I didn’t decide a specific location. But since that girl helped us, I marked her magical reaction as the destination.”
The place after transfer seems to be the rooftop of some building.
From the cityscape, it’s clearly Jilnias Academy.
Holding back my hair against the blowing wind, I sense someone behind me and turn around.
A frog playingfully jumping at my feet.
Purple mesh swaying in the wind.
“Hi, Solciera.”
She is a familiar beautiful girl to me.
