The Broken System Chose the Antagonist
Chapter 14: No Other Way

Chapter 14: No Other Way

Gifts were a unique power that would rarely appear in a small portion of Vitalists at the time of their awakening. These special abilities took on a variety of forms. From simple telepathy, breathing fire, to being able to fly, or even shape the land!

Humanity had yet to figure out the reason why the appearances of Gifts occurred. And why they only began to appear after the year 2000.

The religious speculated it was a gift from God and that one day humanity would give birth to a Hero that would save them from all of the Predicaments in the world; their next saviour.

While scientists speculated it could be due to a mutation, an evolutionary adaptation that humanity awakened to further their strength against the Predicaments.

But with the lack of evidence that it was truly a gift from God, and the lack of data to prove it’s an evolutionary adaptation, no answers could be given to explain why Gifts exist.

However!

What humanity did know was that all known Vitalists who managed to awaken one of these Gifts were said to surpass most of their peers in a much shorter time.

In other words...

"Won’t you tell me what your Gift truly does?"

These Vitalists awakened with an unprecedented level of potential.

Nadia gripped the hilt of her sword; shock was evident in her eyes as she stared at Hilda.

’She... she has a Gift, like me!?’ She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. ’She doesn’t seem to be lying...’

The organisation that backed her, the LCEO, had suspected the possibility of someone like her being a part of this exam. She was told the chances of that were near zero, but that if someone like her really did take the exam, it would most likely be someone from the LRM.

’My uncle did tell me about someone that’s been causing waves inside the LRM for the past three years...’

Apparently, that person was capable of taking on five Scoundrels at once! Even participating in a battle against a Soldier—a class above Scoundrel!

’Although we’ve never been able to figure out who, even with people on the inside...’

Could the person in front of me really be who she was thinking?

Nadia’s grip around her hilt loosened a bit, now feeling a bit intimidated by Hilda, who still remained calmly staring at her.

’No... it wouldn’t make sense for her to be them!’ Nadia shook her head in denial, ’After all, someone with that reputation would’ve stayed in the LRM and continued their work. They would benefited more by doing that, instead of coming out here for some military academy’s entrance exam!’

Even though she found her reasoning to be logical...

"As if I’ll tell you what my Gift is."

It was best to be cautious.

"Humph!"

Nadia dashed towards Hilda, crossing the several metres gap between them in seconds. And with a steady grip on her sword, she swung it—causing the blade to arc through the air.

SWISH!

Unfortunately for her, though—

"So uncivilised~!"

—Hilda was just a tinge bit faster.

The German ducked under the swing. And like a nimble critter, she dodged the next attack. And the next, then another.

With incredible footwork and finesse, Hilda weaved through every swing Nadia made towards her, which evidently frustrated the poor Heroine—this detail obviously having been noticed by Hilda.

"Do we have to fight?" She asked, stepping back and narrowly avoiding being disembowled. "Us fighting, at this moment, will achieve nothing, besides wasting time und attracting attention. Let’s just talk it out—"

SWISH!

Nadia swung again and just like last time, she missed.

With furrowed brows and a cold gaze, she said:

"And what did killing Ben achieve?"

"I only got rid of deadweight." Hilda pointed out before dashing back, putting distance between them again. "That man barely had any Vitality left und was hanging on by a thread. He was going to slow us down—"

"Even if his wounds were hazardous, we all still could’ve gotten out of there alive!"

Hilda scratched the back of her head, sighing.

"That man was a lost cause... he had already lost too much blood. On the off chance we could’ve saved him, his injuries would have been infected after the first night."

She then paused for a second before adding:

"Und, considering any kind of sterilising alcohol that still remained in this area had long since expired, we would have no way to treat his injuries properly. He only would’ve suffered miserably."

Nadia widened her eyes at what she heard—her grip on her sword unconsciously intensifying a second later.

"Ex—... expired?" Nadia stammered, "Then, why did you get me to look for some back in the house?"

Hilda stared at Nadia silently before sighing again, unable to give an answer.

This emotionless response from Hilda caused Nadia to grit her teeth in rage. "We could’ve come up with a plan during the time I wasted looking for supplies! Why didn’t we do that?!"

Just like last time, Hilda couldn’t give a response, leading to the hatred in Nadia’s Heart towards the GOHG to worsen.

"Although I didn’t know him for very long, I knew he wanted to give it his all to get his family out of the lower-class bracket. Ben Affleck was a gentle person and only just awakened a year ago... he was a late bloomer and hadn’t yet strengthened his Heart enough to deal with Predicaments!

"He shouldn’t have been registered for this exam; no one like him should have! So why do you GOHG and LRM bastards only ever see a person based on their Vitality and their worth to society!?"

"Haaa..."

Hilda tilted her head up towards the sky. Her eyes were closed, and the bridge of her nose was pinched as she ruminated over what she had just heard.

Eventually...

"Because that’s the only way we can all survive."

She opened her eyes.

Hilda then walked to the side before bending over and picking up a black, metal clock hand that was chipped and damaged all around. Since it was the hour hand, it was around 0.9 metres long and weighed roughly 55 pounds.

It looked somewhat ridiculous to use as a weapon.

But at the same time...

"You wanted to fight, right? Come on."

It looked extremely intimidating as a weapon.