Chapter 162
Chapter 162
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: To Protect Everyone - Interlude (1)
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Psychokinesis required intense mental concentration.
Therefore, lifting a massive object like the Sky Garden was as exhausting as solving an incredibly difficult math problem for hours on end without a break.
So, I was staring blankly at the sky, trying to get a moment's rest.
Raven grabbed my half-dazed hand and spoke with an air of disbelief.
“Hey... Yuria, what are you spacing out for?”
“...?”
“Are you just going to stand there and get caught? If people see you like this, how are you going to explain it...? Either shrink back down or run away. Quickly... do something. You idiot.”
Raven's brow furrowed, blood still trickling down from the gash on his head.
His earnest outburst snapped me back to reality, and I clutched the Tesseract.
Maintaining the form transformed by the Tesseract required a constant supply of energy.
In other words, to revert, I just had to cut off the energy flow.
So, returning to my original form wasn't particularly difficult.
*Like this... There. I'm back to my usual self. The wounds... are gone. Did the Tesseract do this? Yes, how kind of it.*
Just like that, I reverted from my adult form back to my usual appearance in an instant.
The body that had been uncomfortably voluptuous was now small and light, as if it had never been otherwise.
As I adjusted my now-stretched-out clothes, a consequence of growing and shrinking,
Raven, having wiped away the blood, placed his clean hand on my head and said,
“Whew... Did you lose your mask?”
“...”
“Right, if you left it somewhere... go get it before things get complicated. The Fixers who've recovered will be roaming around soon. I'll ask... my questions later....”
“...!”
With that, he gently let go of my head, as if giving me a light push on the back.
Given the circumstances, he must have realized it wasn't the time for a leisurely chat.
This was, in every sense, a gesture of goodwill from Raven.
Grateful for his decision not to ask questions for now, I nodded deeply and scurried away.
When I was far enough away, I glanced back and met Raven's gaze.
What could he be thinking? His expression was a complex mix of emotions.
Perhaps the fact that I was a psychic was quite a shock to him.
My mind was a mess, wondering how I was supposed to face him from now on.
“Wh-White Human! You're safe!”
“...!”
“So... what happened to the item I asked for?”
“...”
After parting with Raven, I flew low to avoid being seen and joined up with Murmur.
He seemed utterly exhausted, likely from experiencing the Sky Garden's fall.
But he immediately recognized me as I approached the hiding spot and asked about the World Tree Seed.
He must be well aware of how dangerous the seed is.
He must have been desperately hoping it hadn't fallen into the hands of the Metahuman Liberation Army.
But I found it difficult to answer.
How could I possibly explain, without words, that Vespera, who had been hiding her identity, had snatched the seed and devoured it with relish?
So, after a moment of thought, I managed to convey through various gestures that the World Tree Seed had been destroyed and was now useless.
Murmur, who knew how tough the seed was, looked bewildered, as if he couldn't believe it.
But he was soon convinced by my dead-serious demeanor and nodded in acceptance.
“I see... A powerful vampire... White Human, I'm so glad you're not hurt.”
“...!”
“Here, this is the mask you left with me. I'm giving it back.”
I took the fox mask back from Murmur and skillfully placed it on my face.
It covered my face, yet it felt light and liberating, as if nothing was there.
Wearing this really does put my mind at ease.
As I idly touched the mask's cheeks, I sensed a presence nearby.
*Rustle, rustle.* Parting the grass and branches, an astonishingly tall woman appeared—Sayoko, the proctor for the fourth test.
“...I've found you. Examinee... You were hiding in a place like this... And fairies, too....”
“A-A monster...?!”
“...”
*That's rude. She's clearly a person.*
I patted Murmur on the back, chiding him for his startled reaction to Sayoko, then approached her nonchalantly, as if to ask if she'd been looking for me.
Judging from what I'd heard over Raven's radio, the situation seemed to be mostly over.
Sayoko was clearly roaming the Sky Garden, searching for unprotected examinees.
In that case, I just needed to act like I'd been here all along and join her naturally.
Of course, the fact that I'd briefly shown my face to the Fixers earlier was a bit concerning....
But what could I do? With no way to escape, I had no choice but to face it head-on.
“Follow me... I will guide you to a safe place....”
“...!”
“You fairies, too... It would be best if you came along... With the Sky Garden in this state... we'll need to prepare a new environment... for you....”
“Mmm... Tsk, we have no choice. Alright.”
I decided to follow Sayoko, who was smiling somewhat awkwardly.
And surprisingly, Murmur and the other fairies seemed to follow her as well.
Even he, who didn't particularly trust humans, must have decided that with the Sky Garden no longer functional, he had no choice but to rely on the Fixers.
We trailed behind Sayoko and arrived at a place crowded with people.
Alice, who had been anxiously biting her nails, rushed towards me at incredible speed.
“Yuriaaa! You're safe!”
“...”
*Stumble.*
Alice's tackle was so strong it nearly knocked me off my feet.
I was suddenly trapped in her warm embrace, squeezed uncomfortably tight.
We hadn't run into each other at all in the Sky Garden.
She must have been terribly worried that I'd been seriously injured or even killed.
I, on the other hand, had been worried that Alice might have run into a ridiculously strong enemy and gotten hurt.
Seeing her safe and sound, I was relieved that hadn't happened.
“That outfit...”
Meanwhile, David was glancing our way with a puzzled expression.
But I was too busy trying to escape Alice's persistent, dog-like clinging to pay him any mind.
After that, nothing much happened.
Fixers moved through the now-quiet Sky Garden, tending to the casualties, and the Fixer exam was suspended, fizzling out without any further stages.
It must have been frustrating for the examinees who had fought so hard.
But what could be done? Most of the proctors had sustained injuries, major or minor, while fighting the Liberation Army.
Still, they announced that all examinees would be compensated fairly.
And after some discussion, word came that those deemed qualified would undergo a separate verification process.
“Heeh, so does that mean we can go home now?”
“Yes. Just in case, the Association will assist with your travel home, so you don't need to worry.”
“It feels like an anticlimactic end... but given the circumstances, I suppose it can't be helped.”
“But hey, if we're lucky, there's the verification test! We can look forward to that!”
“...”
*Glance, glance.*
I scanned my surroundings and was relieved to see that no Fixers seemed to be looking for me.
I had been sick with anxiety, my stomach in knots after being seen by big shots like the Single-Number Fixers.
But it seemed they were too preoccupied with the chaotic aftermath to pay attention to a small fry like me.
After all, the only ones who had directly witnessed me using psychic powers were a few examinees and Raven.
There probably wasn't enough fuel to make the fire of their interest spread my way.
“Hoo, hoong... White Human! Goodbye...! Don't you forget me...!”
“Hah, let's meet again if we get the chance.”
“...!”
“How curious. When did Yuria become friends with the fairies...?”
“I wonder...”
Soon after, on the airship back to Nighthaven, I waved goodbye to my fairy friends, including Murmur and Chiriru.
Chiriru, in particular, seemed so sad to part with me that she was on the verge of tears.
But fairies were a specially protected species managed by the Association. Our parting was inevitable.
*I'm finally going home. It's been... a really tough few days.*
So, how am I supposed to face Raven now?
My heart pounded so hard it was almost painful.
And so, the Fixer exam, full of twists and turns and plenty of stories, came to an end.
*
Several hours later.
In a large hospital in Nighthaven, where the Fixer Association had moved the injured after getting the situation somewhat under control.
A woman spoke in a serious tone from a private room designed for top-tier VIPs.
“The Sky Garden incident... an assault on the Association during the Fixer exam. The perpetrators seem to be, without a doubt, the Metahuman Liberation Army.”
The Sky Garden attack, an assault by the Metahuman Liberation Army on the Association while the Fixer exam was in progress.
After hours of relentless, bloody battle, in the very end, it was the Fixers who came out on top.
The Sky Garden, painstakingly built by the Association, had failed to withstand the impact, falling and ultimately collapsing.
It was a grave situation, with casualties among both examinees and Fixers. So why were they the victors?
The reasons could be narrowed down to two main points.
They had thwarted the large-scale magic of the necromancer Morte, which was clearly limited in use.
And they had successfully subdued two of the Liberation Army's Seven Extremes: Olvis and Edmont.
“The Seven Extremes are each powerful assets and commanders who lead armies. Losing two of the seven is effectively a 30% reduction in their military strength. And especially...”
“Eliminating the Sword Fiend, Edmont, was a huge gain. That monster could be called a one-man army. He's a tricky one who would require several Single-Number Fixers to take down.”
It was especially significant that they had managed to eliminate Edmont, whose skills had been recognized since his days in another world.
As an individual whose skills were so renowned that he had risen to the rank of the Seven Extremes without any troops under his command.
The Liberation Army, having lost such a talent so futilely, must be feeling the sting.
Furthermore, their failure to take the life of their apparent target, Tempest, made the defeat all the more devastating.
“Khuhu, foolish whelps. They must have underestimated me because I'm old. Those idiots will regret picking a fight with me for the rest of their lives.”
“Sigh... Lord Tempest, this is not the time to be laughing. Thanks to the Sky Garden miraculously stopping its fall, we managed to minimize casualties, but...”
For the Fixer Association, it was a case of taking the first punch but reaping an unexpected reward.
Unfortunately, it was by no means a situation they could simply laugh off.
In responding to the Liberation Army's unforeseen attack, they had suffered an truly irreversible loss.
Was it because the Sky Garden had been destroyed?
No, the Sky Garden itself wasn't of great value in the first place.
Nor were there any casualties during its fall.
If anything, the most painful blow was the severe damage to the docked airship, the Leviathan, which would now require months of maintenance to be operational again.
Then was it because of the casualties among the examinees?
Though unfortunate for the victims, that wasn't it either.
This incursion by the Metahuman Liberation Army was, at its core, an unforeseeable disaster.
In fact, considering it was a surprise attack, the damage was relatively minor, thanks to the quick responses of the examinees.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the outcome miraculous.
So, what exactly was the loss the Fixer Association suffered in this incident?
The answer was remarkably simple.
The fact that Tempest himself had sustained a fatal wound as a result of the battle.
“...How could you let your precious Dragon Heart get stabbed? A Lord Tempest who can't use magic is just a grumpy old man.”
“Such harsh words. Have you no respect for me? And what was I to do? The bastard was stronger than I thought. Besides, I can still use magic. I'm just short on mana.”
“That's the same thing. You'll be wheezing after a single spell now. What are we to do, our dear Mayor.”
The Dragon Heart, the heart of a dragon that endlessly generated mana just by breathing.
That power, synonymous with Tempest, was no more.
A part of it had been severed during the desperate fight in the Sky Garden.
The culprit was obvious without needing to ask: Edmont.
Indeed, the moniker "Sword Fiend" was no empty boast.
His power and skill had been enough to land a blow on Tempest even after he had shed his disguise and taken his draconic form.
Of course, he paid the price for that one effective strike, receiving Tempest's full retribution....
But that alone was enough to suppress the power of the perfectly balanced Dragon Heart.
“Well, it's fine. I was thinking it was about time for this old man to retire anyway. Consider it a parting gift from an old-timer to the young ones. The kids who are left will manage just fine on their own.”
“...That's a heavy burden.”
“It is. But what can you do? It was bound to happen someday. We can only think of it as having been moved up a little.”
Lying comfortably in his bed, Tempest stared at the ceiling and thought quietly.
He was getting old anyway, unable to perform as he did in his prime.
On the contrary, he could see it as a positive thing that they'd managed to eliminate the Sword Fiend, one of the trickiest of the Seven Extremes.
Of course, Tempest's retirement would cause a massive drop in morale.
But what could be done? What had happened could not be undone.
“War will come soon. This time... it won't be so easy to avoid.”
The fragile peace they had precariously maintained was now truly over.
A line would soon be drawn that neither side could afford to concede.
In that case, I can only hope the young ones don't break.
And so Tempest, the dragon who protected civilization, resolved to retire.
What kind of repercussions would his decision bring?
With the absence of the great pillar that protected humanity, the world was on the verge of a great upheaval.