Chapter 55: Choice
POV - Yellow
"You—bastard!!"
The nightmare began the moment the Commander went after Alter. The Lica units, whose neural pathways should have been scorched beyond repair by my ability, all stood back up at once.
"Freeze!!"
The moment Scarlet screamed, everyone—including us—came to a dead halt. It seemed to be a newly awakened ability of hers. The fact that it immobilized us as well was a drawback, but I was grateful for the chance to think.
"Listen up! I’ll handle the tactical calls from here! Scarlet, just focus on maintaining this state!"
"Understood—uugh...!!?"
Suddenly, Scarlet let out a pained groan.
I didn't have time to wonder what was happening.
Ignoring Scarlet’s ability, the Lica units began to move.
"Scarlet!!"
"Ability... deactivated...!!"
"Haaaaaaaaaa!!"
I released a full-power burst of lightning! This time for sure—!
"Why!?"
"No, that’s not it, Yellow! These girls!!"
"They don't have a will! They're all being controlled by Alter as a single hive mind!!"
No way. You mean...
"Every last one of them is that shitty old hag, Alter!?"
Just like that, without even a chance to resist, we were swallowed by a tide of over eight hundred units.
"Commander Amane. Just give up already."
"No... I won't."
"The answer is clear. You cannot save Asuna."
Alter... what exactly are you so conflicted about?
You weren't always like this.
You loved Asuna more than anyone else. You loved sweets more than anything. You had a massive complex about your height.
Where did it go wrong? Are we—are both I and Alter—really this helpless without Asuna?
"Asuna can be saved! We found a way!!"
"Then—choose!! Asuna or Esil!!"
What do you mean by that...!!
"I see!"
It was a total blind spot. I had forgotten why Asuna had put Esil into her own mind in the first place!!
"If you save Asuna, Esil will never wake up! If you save Esil, Asuna’s brain will be scorched to a crisp!! Choose! I couldn't make the choice. Can you, Amane Kazuto!?"
Alter... you’ve been struggling with this choice all this time, haven't you?
Now then, what will you do?
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.