Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: To Protect Everyone (6)
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I landed lightly on the ground, clenching and unclenching my fist, feeling a sense of surprise.
Even after using psychokinesis on such a large scale, I could feel I had plenty of power left.
*To think I still have this much energy after using so much power... I'm definitely getting stronger every day.*
It was like feeling pleasantly breathless after a 400-meter sprint.
Compared to the days when I'd get dizzy just from taking down a few ghouls, this was almost moving.
Maybe it was because I'd experienced a completely different level of psychokinetic output using the Tesseract.
Having learned the path forward, perhaps my body was naturally growing into it.
*If so, I might be able to wield that immense power without the Tesseract sooner than I thought...*
I couldn't rely on the Tesseract forever.
If I truly wanted to protect everyone, I needed to become stronger myself.
So, this was definitely good news.
Not immediately, but at least the possibility was now clearly visible.
"Hey, hey, no way that little girl did all that, right? Is she a long-lived species, like an elf...?"
"Ridiculous. Wiping out so many in a single blow... The world is vast, and there are many powerful people, I suppose."
"So, so cute! Is she a Fixer, too? What's her name? I want to be a fan!"
As I stood there, clenching my fist and lost in thought.
The examinees seemed to have noticed me, and they began to murmur amongst themselves.
Ugh, I guess I can't help but stand out when I'm not wearing a mask.
The countless stares felt almost physical, sharp and piercing.
But still, how carefree are these people?
Just moments ago, their lives were threatened by the undead, yet here they were, chatting like this.
As an ordinary citizen without psychic powers, I found it quite surprising.
*...Wait, is the cause and effect reversed? It's probably the bold ones who become Fixers. Someone whose spirit breaks easily would have a hard time in this line of work.*
But on second thought, it wasn't that strange.
Most of the Fixers I'd met possessed incredible mental fortitude.
To be a true Fixer, maybe you needed to be the kind of person who could casually crack a joke with a knife at your throat.
From that perspective, these people were certainly qualified to become Fixers.
I convinced myself of this and gave a slight, subtle nod.
"Thank you so much for your help. We were in grave danger. You saved our lives."
"..."
As I stared into the distant sky, half-escaping reality, a familiar voice reached my ears.
I reflexively snapped my head toward the sound.
There stood David, his body covered in wounds.
It seemed he hadn't spared himself in protecting the other examinees...
Seeing him in such a battered state made my heart ache for no reason.
Still, I was so glad he wasn't seriously injured.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief and slowly mulled over his words.
Then, a question suddenly crossed my mind.
...Could it be that David doesn't recognize me as Yuria?
*...Come to think of it, he's never seen my face, has he? We were in different rooms at the hotel last time. Is that why he doesn't know?*
It wasn't an unreasonable thought.
I wasn't wearing my mask, and my hair color had changed.
It would be difficult for most people to immediately realize I was Yuria.
Since I wanted to keep my identity as a psychic a secret from everyone at the agency if possible...
...David not recognizing me wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was great.
"..."
So, I gave him a curt nod in response.
Then, I turned my head to look at the modified humans gathered in the distance.
If I gave him any openings, he might figure out the truth.
Besides, there were still enemies right in front of me.
First things first.
With time being of the essence, there was no reason to show the enemy any mercy.
"G-Gah... A skilled magician?"
"Don't tell me she's s-stronger than us?"
"U-Ugh... This is a problem..."
Not far away, three modified humans were staring in our direction.
One looked like a mix between a diving beetle and a human, with round wings on its back.
Another had a bizarrely skinny body but arms as thick as maces.
And the last one was pear-shaped, wiping away beads of sweat with a handkerchief.
These modified humans, who didn't look particularly impressive, were clearly tense.
After having the upper hand against the examinees with their undead, the tables had suddenly turned.
They seemed worried they might be defeated just like that.
Hmm, most of the modified humans I've seen were strangely overconfident.
Are these ones a weaker type than the others?
If so, all the better.
Let's finish them off quickly and secure the World Tree Seed.
Without hesitation, I powered up my psychokinesis and took a combat stance.
"Hey! Don't be scared! She's just a pipsqueak of a girl! If we work together, we can't lose!"
"R-Right! With our power..."
"We can win! We can win!"
"..."
Still, it seemed they had a reason they couldn't back down.
They somehow mustered their fighting spirit and directed their hostility toward me.
I guess this won't be easy after all.
I steeled myself against complacency and observed the modified humans carefully.
From my experience fighting modified humans around the Sky Garden, each of them possessed some kind of annoying ability.
For example, the first one I met could shoot thorns with the force of bullets.
The ones after that also had their own tricky abilities.
That meant the three modified humans before me were likely hiding some kind of power as well.
If I let my guard down just because they looked weak, I could be in for a rude awakening.
*First, a probing attack...*
Leaving enough energy to defend myself, I used my psychokinesis to grab the skeleton bones scattered around.
Perhaps because Morte made them, even these mass-produced ones were as strong as steel.
Dozens of fragments rose into the air, defying gravity.
The levitated bone shards shot toward the modified humans like arrows...
And what followed was completely unexpected.
"Aaargh! It hurts, it huuurts!"
"H-Harden! Uuuugh..."
"Protect me! You can't win without my attack! Aack!"
Surprisingly, the modified humans put up no real resistance and were simply struck down.
The diving beetle-like one managed to harden its body and act as a meat shield.
But when I lightly shifted the projectiles' paths with psychokinesis to hit the other two...
...they were instantly covered in wounds.
Is it a good matchup for me? Or is this really all they've got?
I watched the helpless modified humans with a dubious expression before collecting my thoughts.
*They don't seem to be hiding any power. In that case... I'll end this now.*
I stomped my foot once, spreading my psychokinesis wide to gather all the scattered bones in the area.
The ones I'd used for the probing attack were only a fraction of the crushed skeleton parts.
The ground was littered with countless bone shards, broken into hundreds of pieces.
Immediately, sharp, white bone fragments began to float in a radius of several dozen meters.
It was a majestic sight, reminiscent of Saturn's rings.
"What is that...?"
"W-Was there ever a spell like this?"
Perhaps the surreal sight of countless fragments floating in the air was too much to take in.
Voices bordering on astonishment escaped from the examinees watching behind me.
Countless objects were levitating simultaneously without any wind.
It seemed anyone with even a little knowledge of magic could clearly sense how unnatural it was.
But that wasn't my concern.
Right now, I was desperate to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.
I had no time to hold back or conserve my strength.
*Lock, rotate, accelerate... and fire!*
If that's all you've got, I'll end this quickly without torturing you.
I launched the psychokinetically spun bone shards at the modified humans with all my might.
Countless bone shards, imbued with immense force, descended upon the modified humans from all directions.
If I had to give this technique a name... it would be something like Bone Shard Meteor Shower.
"Hiiieek!"
"W-We're going to die!"
"Please save us, Lady Olviiiis!"
Had the modified humans been terrified by the sheer destructive power of the bone shard meteor shower, which was fearsome even just to look at?
They huddled together, cowering and trembling as if to use each other as shields.
It was a pathetic display that didn't match their grotesque appearances, which were clumsy amalgams of animal and human.
Considering how they'd been tormenting the examinees just moments before, I didn't feel sorry or pitiful for them in the slightest.
Even if I let them go, they'd just come back with someone stronger.
In that case, it was better to give them a clean end with my own hands.
*A direct hit. They can't escape.*
*Crunch, crack!*
The countless bone shard projectiles launched by my psychokinesis shredded the modified humans.
The sound of flesh being torn apart, audible even from a distance, was so vivid it was dizzying.
The force was so powerful that it gouged out the earth, kicking up a high cloud of dust.
The examinees hiding behind me gasped in shock.
It was a finishing blow, one I was certain they couldn't survive no matter how durable their bodies were.
But as the dust cloud settled, what was revealed beyond it was a completely unexpected outcome.
"What is that...?"
"I-It's still alive!"
"To take that and still be standing... Is that thing a monster?!"
"..."
The examinees' voices echoed the words I wanted to say.
And before my eyes stood a being that had taken a blow packed with considerable power and was still standing.
Its skin was torn in places, bleeding profusely.
But it was clear the damage was far less than I had expected.
*That thing... Its form has changed a little, hasn't it?*
But the biggest change wasn't that it had withstood the attack.
It was that the three modified humans had transformed into a single, different-looking one.
Large, round insect wings like a cape, vicious mace-like arms, and an inverted-triangle-shaped, muscular body.
It was a form that seemed to have been created by taking only the best parts of the three scrawny modified humans.
Its intimidating presence, clear even from a distance, marked it as a true monster.
"Uwoooooooh!"
"..."
"Uok?!"
So noisy. Do you have the lung capacity of three people?
Covering my ears with both hands, I picked up a rock from the ground and shoved it into the modified human's mouth.
The modified human's eyes widened in surprise at the suddenly flying rock.
But it quickly adopted a fierce expression and crushed the stone with its teeth.
Its demeanor bore no trace of the modified humans who had just been taking a beating.
I see. It's definitely much stronger than before.
Facing a more powerful enemy, I pushed my psychokinesis to its limit.
I'll finish you in three minutes.
I let a confident smile play on my lips.