The Broken System Chose the Antagonist

Chapter 90: "I’m Not Like Most Of You"

"I believe the Soldier had held off on an all-out attack to intentionally drop the number of Scoundrels," Callum stated grimly, shocking the five around him, as well as Elias, who had only just arrived and was hurriedly filled in.

"What!? Now why would it do that?" The Street Rat exclaimed in surprise. "Ain’t a Soldier meant to be a smarter Scoundrel? But... bigger?"

Ross cast him a look. "You seem oddly knowledgeable on Predicaments, for someone who used to live in poverty."

"Meh, words gets around. ’Course, never seen one in person." Elias shrugged.

Ross was satisfied with the response given. He then turned back to Callum, also curious as to what he could be theorising.

With everyone’s gaze now on him, Callum explained his theory:

"I’m not certain if this is the reason why yet, but after you all retreated back into the warehouse, both I and Seraphine managed to catch sight of the Soldier eating the dead Scoundrels... I believe the monster may still hunger for the flesh of its own kind, even after the Poison Jar has ended..."

At that, everyone’s expression immediately darkened at this revelation. It was common knowledge that Predicaments grew stronger by eating their own kind. Could it be that it was still trying to grow stronger, right before taking action itself?

Ross wrapped his fingers around his chin. ’How frightening... to voluntary allow the numbers in its army to dwindle, just so it could grow stronger... it’s nothing short of obscenity.’

He then shook his head silently and said, "We still need more information. Could I ask for you to go back outside and survey the situation?"

Roxy immediately protested that idea. "Don’t you remember how sensitive to sound and smell Predicaments are? They’ll find him in seconds if he goes back out there and rip him to shreds!"

Nadia also wanted to protest, but then relented hesitantly. She remembered how Callum’s Gift worked, but still couldn’t help but worry for the man. And Seraphine felt the exact same way. After all, this task was incredibly risky.

In an attempt to appease Roxy’s hostility towards Ross, Callum explained his Gift to her.

...

"That’s definitely quite the Gift..." Roxy pondered before wincing at her wounds. "But anyway, it’s still too dangerous. You’ll need something to defend yourself, in case something goes south."

All of them then turned to Seraphine, who had gotten used to carrying the rifle.

"H-huh? W-why are you guys all looking at me?" Seraphine asked timidly. "You guys aren’t possibly thinking of having me go out too, right? If he uses his Gift on me, as well, his Vitality will drain twice as fast!"

Callum shook his head. "Don’t worry, we’re not looking at you. We’re looking at the rifle. Could I borrow it for a bit? I promise I’ll give it back later."

When Seraphine eventually handed over the anti-tank rifle, Callum immediately turned to leave. "If I see something else that is out of the ordinary, I’ll be sure to report back. But you should be prepared just in case I don’t come back in time. I’ll leave the morale of everyone to you Ross."

The moment he left, Roxy sighed and shook her head. She then said, which everyone instantly agreed with, "He’s a brave one..."

Then they turned to Ross, who had taken a metaphorical stage, and watched as he called out to everyone.

"Everyone, we don’t have much time, so I’ll quickly go over the situation." He then explained everything that Callum had reported.

...

After he was done explaining everything, he said:

"Although we are surrounded by Predicaments, we still have time to rest, so build up your strength. But stay on guard and on your feet, for we may never know when the Predicaments will bust down those doors."

Everyone had mixed feelings about what they had just heard. It was bad enough that they had already lost 10% of their manpower, but the revelation that there was something more terrifying than a Scoundrel outside... it made everyone crestfallen.

But soon... an outrage began to spark amongst the people, specifically...

"It’s all that bitches fault!"

Roxy’s portion.

"I—our group wouldn’t even be in this mess if not for her!"

"Exactly, it’s all her fault! Where even is she, anyway!?"

"Maybe she’s the one behind all of this! Maybe she led all the Predicaments to us, so that she could steal all the eyes!"

It was clear that they resented Hilda heavily. And it didn’t take long for those in Ross’ portion to join in the hate, suspecting her of the same thing. But in truth, all of them just wanted someone to blame for their situation.

"You are right!"

"That’s the only logical reason why she gathered all of us together, so she could take us all out in one go!"

"I thought she was a good person, but someone who’s good wouldn’t abandon us like this!"

"People who work in the LRM really are despicable!"

Their hatred towards Hilda filled the atmosphere inside the warehouse.

Ross couldn’t object, nor make any arguments against their claim. After all, this could indeed be a ploy to weed out the weak among them. And given what happened last night, Ross wasn’t naive enough to think that wasn’t something she would do.

He continued to keep quiet. ’Maybe their hate for Miss Hertel might rally up their morale...’

But of course, there was always someone who stuck out from the crowd.

Locks of luscious blonde hair fluttered past Ross as a woman with immense beauty took the metaphorical stage.

"You all are pathetic for accusing someone without even the slightest bit of evidence!" Nadia shouted, her face twitching violently at the obscenity she was hearing. "We all have bigger things to worry about and you guys decide to waste your energy on something like that?!"

In response, a woman with the last name Correy sat up.

"Yeah, of course you’d be the one to defend her. We’ve seen how you cozy up to her like some boot-licking follower. You’ve been with her from the start! I bet she’s been protecting you since you two met... I bet you’re feel betrayed right now, don’t you? Seeing as she hadn’t come to save us from the Predicaments! You must’ve thought you were special, hehe."

Correy’s voice was filled with mockery. Her words constantly garnered snickers amongst the crowd. And while it did aggravate Nadia, she didn’t let it get to her. Instead, it made her reflect on the past two days.

"Protected? Yeah... she had been protecting me since we met on the first day. But if you think the reason why I’ve been so huddled close to her is to have her protection, then think again."

Nadia then summoned her sword and planted it into the ground, startling the people near her. "I’m not like most of you. I never asked for protection to get by, nor have I made any effort to get close to someone, in hopes of bettering my chances of survival.

"I don’t complain about unfairness, and I especially don’t blame others for my incompetence or weakness. Nor do I feel betrayed or disheartened that Hilda isn’t here! For I’m not some child who needs to be coddled by a caretaker!"

She then uprooted her sword and brandished it at them, her eyes burning with a fierce and determined light.

"I don’t think of myself as extraordinary or special either. But I know for damn sure I’m strong. Stronger than all of you! And I don’t care if all of you are weak, because if needed, I’ll face the Predicaments all on my own, while you all hide like cowards!"

Seeing them become startled at her words, Nadia soon unsummoned her Relic. She then let out a deep sigh after a moment’s pause to compose herself.

"Don’t forget the point of this exam. Regardless of whether you want to be here or not, we all are fighting for similar causes. Friends, family, caretakers, people we care about. Fame and money, even...

"All of us have something we want to achieve in the future, but we can only start working towards it by first pulling the sticks out of our asses. As Vitalists, we have a duty to defend Humanity against Predicaments."

Her gaze then turned cold.

"The point of this exam is for the government to find suitable people to train. The government are the ones who need us. But if any of you still honestly believe that Hilda would willingly let us all be wiped out for some extra credit... then you all are nothing but imbeciles."

Afterwards, Nadia turned around and walked away, giving everyone time to process her words.

Ross was the first to do so.

He let out a few loud coughs to grab everyone’s attention. "Alright, everyone. Rest as much as you can, while we still have the opportunity."

...

Nadia soon arrived by a metal pillar and leaned her back on it. She crossed her arms before letting out another sigh.

’Why did I react so harshly...?’ She thought.

When she first began to hear their hateful accusations towards Hilda, she couldn’t help but become aggravated and... annoyed.

’I guess I was always like this...’ Nadia never liked it when people spoke about others negatively behind their backs, especially when that person wasn’t present in the room to defend themselves — no matter what they were like.

She then sensed Seraphine approaching her steadily and looked up.

Nadia quirked an eyebrow. "Did you need something?"

Seraphine shook her head and leaned against a separate pillar. "Not really. I did want to say that’s was a really cool speech, by the way."

"You... think?" Nadia scratched the side of her cheek. "I just spoke what was on my mind..."

The girl nodded strongly. "It was very cool. I think you did a really good job!"

In fact, Seraphine thought Nadia did an extremely good job. If it wasn’t for the fact that she didn’t want to weird Nadia out, Seraphine would’ve begun squealing and fangirling!

Her speech was just that cool!

’As expected of the main character!’ Seraphine internally pumped her fist.

As she was about to throw out more compliments, Nadia asked her a sudden question. One that even took her by surprise.

"Hey, are you... worried about Hilda?"

"H-huh? A-are you?" Seraphine asked out of reflex.

A thoughtful expression spread across Nadia’s face as she stared up at the ceiling. "I’m aware that Hilda’s strong enough to take care of herself... but with everything that’s going on... is it unreasonable for me to worry about her a little?"

Seraphine grinned widely.

"Not in the slightest~..."

...

Cloaked by his Gift, Callum rested on top of the roof with the rifle situated right in front of him. He looked over the Conundrum of Scoundrels, which continued to trample over their barricades, and spotted the Soldier in the mix — devouring the bodies of the Predicaments that had perished.

By now, it was on the last corpse.

Callum had his finger over the trigger. He constantly had the urge to fire at one of the Scoundrels, but he knew there would be no point. To effectively kill a Predicament, he would need to imbue the bullets with Vitality.

But given that he requires Vitality to fuel his Gift... it would be more like shooting himself in the foot, especially with his current location.

For a brief second, Callum decided to glance at the sky and found that the clouds above him were incredibly dense and black, stretching all across the area, the port, and even into the sea.

Callum instantly recognised these types of clouds. ’Rain clouds! Is it about to start raining?’

He had to tell everyone about this!

As he was about to get down from the roof, he noticed something odd about the Soldier.

’What is it—’

"ROAHHHHHHHR!"

Without warning, the horrifying Predicament let out a thunderous roar. Fortunately, it had less of an effect on his Heart compared to last time. But that was the least of his worries.

One by one, the Scoundrels surrounding the Soldier began to encircle the warehouse, like a pack of hyenas.

Callum was instantly startled by their sudden formation, to the point that he had almost released his invisibility. It was the Soldier who was planning something—something big...

’I got to go now!’

He quickly scrambled to get off the roof, but as he was halfway down the ladder, he caught a glimpse of something deeply concerning.

Standing 20 metres away from the doors, the Soldier carefully positioned itself in line with them. It then let out a deep grunt before scraping its hands against the concrete ground. Similar to how a bull would right before it was about to...

Charge.

Callum’s eyes immediately shot wide open. Ignoring his safety, he dropped to the ground instead before getting back up and scrambling for the entrance into the warehouse.

He needed to warn them. Quick!

... Unfortunately, it was impossible for him to warn them in time.

The Soldier charged towards the two metal doors on all fours, kicking up large clouds of dirt and creating loud thumping sounds.

Then, in the matter of seconds, it quickly closed the 20-metre-long gap. And like a heavy siege weapon, it busted down the doors.