Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: To Protect Everyone
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It felt as if I had truly become a ghost.
I felt nothing when my feet touched the ground; I was simply plummeting, falling endlessly downward.
Perhaps this is what it would feel like to be a being unaffected by gravity.
But that strange, almost exhilarating feeling quickly morphed into terror the moment I looked around.
Trees were being torn from the ground like strands of hair, and the earth was crumbling like a crayon.
If hell existed, perhaps it would look something like this.
It was a horrifying sight that made such a thought spring to mind unbidden.
‘Has the magic supporting the Sky Garden in the air been severed by the aftermath of the fight? I suppose, no matter how much effort went into it… there's no way it could withstand a continuous battle between Tempest and one of the Seven Extremes.’
But held in the arms of Raven, who sensed the danger, I was strangely calm.
It was as if I were a spectator watching the events unfold from beyond a screen.
Well, I've flown through the sky using psychokinesis countless times, after all.
I guess it's similar to how a bird with wings doesn't fear the open air.
In fact, even at this very moment, I could manage to save my own life and Raven's.
All I had to do was lift him and myself with psychokinesis. That would be the simplest solution.
‘...I suppose I have no choice.’
But there were still too many people on the Sky Garden who couldn't be lost.
Precious people who had to be protected, like Alice and David.
And powerful assets who needed to survive for the future, like Tempest and Luke.
No matter how powerful a mage, they couldn't save everyone in a situation like this.
In that case, I just had to take on that role myself, however inadequate I might be.
“Yuria?”
“…”
I gently pushed away from Raven's embrace.
Then, I lightly lifted my body with psychokinesis and slowly stepped backward, as if retreating.
To be walking calmly on the ground while everything around was plummeting.
He didn't know I could use psychic powers yet, so his bewildered gaze was completely understandable.
But right now, I didn't have the luxury of hiding it.
Smiling under my mask as always, I tightly gripped the Tesseract inside my clothes.
‘I'm counting on you, Tesseract.’
[ Just trust me, Mama. ]
*Click.*
I felt a sensation like a switch being flipped somewhere inside my head.
A metamorphosis into a different self, a process that now felt familiar after experiencing it several times.
When the distant feeling, as if I were losing the self that felt neither pain nor pleasure, came to an end.
I found myself looking down at the world from an unfamiliar height.
The difference in eye level between Raven and me had been vast.
Now, it had shrunk to a difference of barely a head's height. This was... a good thing.
“You…. That form…”
“…”
*Krrrrk.*
The utterly unfamiliar sensation of this body suddenly made me feel dizzy.
Having changed from a child's body to an adult's, the difference was truly striking.
On top of that, perhaps because my body had grown but my clothes hadn't.
A constricting tightness all over made it hard to breathe.
Still, maybe it was because I wasn't wearing a form-fitting maid outfit, but rather something a bit looser.
It was a huge relief that the disaster of my clothes bursting as my body grew hadn't occurred.
‘So, this much is bearable enough.’
I tried my best to ignore Raven's wide-eyed, astonished stare.
Then, tossing my pure white hair—now restored to its original color—back, I lowered my hands toward the ground.
As if extending an invisible domain, I rapidly dispersed my psychokinesis in all directions.
The power, spreading faster and stronger than ever before, instantly locked onto the Sky Garden.
‘So this is the shape of the Sky Garden. To keep something so absurdly large floating... magic truly is amazing.’
The Sky Garden, as I roughly grasped it with my extended psychokinesis, was an island of ridiculous size.
A massive chunk of rock and earth, several kilometers in diameter and dozens of meters thick.
It weighed billions of tons, comparable to several large icebergs clustered together.
Even if magic follows entirely different rules, to think a project of this scale was possible.
It made me realize anew just how incredible the power and technology of the Fixer Association were.
‘Can I do this? ...No. This isn't a question of can or can't. I have to do it. To protect everyone.’
The moment I felt my psychokinesis envelop the entire Sky Garden.
I clenched my fists, imagining the sensation of forcefully lifting the Sky Garden from below.
More desperately and earnestly than ever before.
It was a resolve filled with the determination to risk my own life.
“…?!”
“Y-Yuria. Are you okay?”
Unfortunately, just as I was concentrating all my consciousness on exerting my power.
I felt my body suddenly lurch forward, and I bonked my head on the ground.
The reason was simple.
I had been using psychokinesis to fall at the same speed as the Sky Garden to keep myself stable.
When the Sky Garden suddenly slowed down, a difference in relative velocity was created!
If I had been standing on the ground, my speed would have naturally adjusted.
But because I had been floating gently above the surface, the moment I landed was when I lost my balance.
‘Ugh, I was trying to be so much more serious than usual... this is so pathetic...!’
Fortunately, since it was soft earth, I didn't get cut or suffer a concussion.
But of all things, Raven had to witness this embarrassing moment in real-time.
Feeling a sense of shame that made my face burn, I somehow pushed myself back up.
And then, with a brazenly confident expression as if I'd never fallen, I thrust both hands toward the sky.
Seriousness be damned, right now I just wanted to escape this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.
‘With all my might... I will lift the Sky Garden!’
*RUMBLE…!*
Was it because my psychokinesis had intervened with the Sky Garden's freefall?
All across the Sky Garden, the ground cracked open with loud splitting sounds, and the noise of something crumbling echoed continuously.
At first, it sounded as if the situation was getting worse.
However, it was actually a positive sign. It meant my psychokinesis was having a meaningful effect.
‘In the first place, it would be strange if a landmass this huge didn't start to break apart when its movement changed so drastically.’
I couldn't feel it immediately, but its speed was gradually decreasing.
Maintaining a level of concentration so intense it felt like I might throw up, I frantically poured out my power.
But then, unfortunately, a problem arose.
Perhaps due to the earth cracking from the strain of my psychokinesis, a nearby tree standing on unstable ground came crashing down right toward me.
Obviously, I couldn't just take the hit with my body.
Even though I'd become much stronger as an adult, that strength was limited to my psychic abilities.
Being crushed by a log of that monstrous thickness would undoubtedly be life-threatening.
‘Ugh... if I lose my focus now... I can't...!’
But the situation was too urgent to let go of my psychokinetic focus.
The Sky Garden was floating in the middle of the ocean, far from any land.
But even if it was water, impacting it over such a wide surface area would be no different from hitting solid ground.
In other words, I had to somehow reduce its speed within the next ten or so seconds before it hit the surface….
A momentary lapse in my focus on the Sky Garden could mean the difference between life and death.
But sacrificing my body was a gamble that could mean losing everything.
Gritting my teeth, I continued to weigh my options and soon came to a decision.
‘There's no other way... I have to endure it.’
I'd have to let the tree crush me. As long as I didn't die, I could somehow maintain my focus.
I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for the coming impact.
It would probably hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes, but I prayed I wouldn't be too severely injured.
But strangely, no matter how long I waited, the expected impact never came.
Instead, all I felt as I cowered with my shoulders hunched was a strange warmth.
Peeking my eyes open at the unsettling situation, I was met with a shocking sight.
Raven was shielding me, taking the full force of the falling tree with his own body.
“…!”
“Kgh… It's nothing. Just finish what you were doing. You're trying to lift it, right? The Sky Garden.”
*It's nothing, he says, while bleeding from his head.*
My eyes trembling, I watched Raven toss the thick tree trunk aside.
Then I shifted my gaze and focused all my attention back on lifting the Sky Garden.
With Raven protecting me, I was sure everything would be okay, no matter what happened.
That sense of trust and security seemed to lighten the burden on my mind.
Perhaps it was thanks to the influence of that strong, desperate feeling.
The Sky Garden, its falling speed now decreasing at a noticeable rate….
…landed on the ocean's surface with incredible gentleness, like a soft breeze coming to rest.
“…!”
“I-It stopped…”
Was it due to the buoyancy of the seawater, or had the vanished magic been reawakened?
The Sky Garden, which had seemed about to sink into the sea, now held its position quietly, as if nothing had happened.
A situation that could have become a major disaster with enormous casualties….
…thus subsided, leaving behind nothing more than a small wave.
Raven looked around the now-silent Sky Garden in disbelief.
Then, clutching his still-bleeding head, he muttered in a daze.
“I can't believe... it actually worked.... You're amazing…”
“…!”
*Stagger.*
I slid over to Raven as he swayed, about to collapse.
Even for an enhanced human, taking a direct hit to the head must be dangerous, right?
I was terribly worried he might be seriously injured.
Fortunately, I managed to catch him before he collapsed completely.
I carefully laid Raven down on the ground and examined his wound to check his condition.
‘Phew, it's just a laceration.’
Should I call it a relief? The wound wasn't a severe injury.
In fact, he seemed more dizzy than in pain.
It was probably because we'd come down from high in the sky to sea level in an instant.
That must have had an effect as well.
And unfortunately, with no residual energy left in the Tesseract, I couldn't heal him.
I let out a sigh of relief, calming my startled heart.
It seemed I had managed to catch the falling Sky Garden without anyone getting hurt.
Honestly, yes. I was incredibly happy.
The fact that I—that my power—had protected people was overwhelming.
[ “Situation resolved. Some of the assailants have fled, but we have confirmed the death of the big shot, Edmont. Lord Tempest is also safe. All available personnel are to move to protect those remaining on the Sky Garden as quickly as possible. I repeat….” ]
And so, with the voice from the device on Raven's hip as a backdrop, I quietly gazed at the sky and thought.
So, how should I run away now?
A feeling of hopelessness at this terribly troublesome situation filled my mind.