Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: To Protect Everyone - Interlude (2)
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The Sky Garden attack—an incident where Fixers and examinees in the midst of their certification test were assaulted by the Metahuman Liberation Army.
This was a major event that could be seen as the opening salvo of the coming war.
Surprisingly, however, information about the incident was secretly concealed, effectively treating it as if it had never happened.
Why was a situation with so many casualties kept hidden from the public?
There were several reasons.
First, the existence of the Sky Garden, meant to protect the fairies, was a top-secret matter.
Second, the fact that the isolated, airborne Sky Garden had been attacked would cause panic among the citizens.
And third, it would inevitably reveal that Tempest had been severely injured as a result.
Now, two days after the incident, the higher-ups had decided it was better to cover it up.
The reveal of an indefensible artifact, the Queen's Unholy Tiara, was a particularly heavy burden.
To think that no place on Earth was safe from the Metahaman Liberation Army.
For powerless, ordinary citizens, it would be the very definition of terror.
“So this is the Sky Garden I've only heard stories about. It's quite... a mess.”
“Considering it fell from hundreds of meters in the air, it's amazing that it's still in one piece.”
“Th-this whole island was floating hundreds of meters up?! I can't believe it...”
In any case, for various reasons, the Sky Garden was a place whose very existence was unknown to anyone but Fixers.
A group that had arrived there by boat stepped onto its soil, each voicing their impressions.
They were none other than the Fixer, Victor, who had recently recovered from his injuries at the Saint-Maria Hotel, and his assistants.
They were now official investigators, commissioned by the Fixer Association to survey the Sky Garden.
After all, most of the people who were at the Sky Garden had been rushed straight to the hospital.
It was necessary to bring in outside personnel to investigate the various traces left at the scene.
Victor, flaunting his vibrant, glowing skin as if he'd never been injured, strode up to the site manager, who looked utterly exhausted.
“Oh, Mr. Victor... Are you here to investigate the site? Ah, yes. You can go right in. But please be careful, as many parts of the ground are unstable.”
“Mm, you're working hard.”
Perhaps it was his trademark spiky blond hair that made him so recognizable.
The manager had identified him instantly after a glance at his face and hair.
And someone of Victor's caliber was a man who could be trusted without reservation.
Thus, entering the Sky Garden without any hindrance, he glanced around and let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“This... doesn't look like damage from the fall, does it?”
“No. The scale of the damage is enough to affect nearly all the land in sight. It must have been Lord Tempest's doing.”
The central area of the Sky Garden, which the site manager had cordoned off, was a picture of hell.
The ground was gouged out as if carved from butter.
Trees and rocks were scattered about chaotically, as if a giant had snapped them at will.
There were even fragments of all kinds sliced as if by a precision laser, and the ground was scorched black.
Victor crouched down, scooping up a handful of dirt, and speculated on what had happened here.
“It seems Lord Tempest released his true form after a long time. That would have been followed by an unrestrained barrage of storm and lightning magic. Normally, it would have been over in an instant, but...”
“His opponent was the Sword Demon. A swordsman so skilled, rumors say he can even cut through storms and lightning. It seems the process wasn't entirely smooth.”
“Right. Seeing traces of necromancy here means there must have been some interference or troublesome assistance. It couldn't have been an easy fight for him.”
Victor documented the traces left in every corner of the site with photos and videos.
The Sky Garden, floating unstably on the sea, was scheduled to be dismantled and moved to the mainland soon, so it was crucial to record every little detail.
Information on the Seven Extremes was a clue to taking on the Metahuman Liberation Army, the Fixer Association's main enemy.
He had to remember that even what seemed like a minor detail could turn out to be a crucial trump card.
Of course, if this were all there was to it, there would have been no need to deploy a valuable asset like him.
A more specialized and persistent investigator working day and night would have been better suited to gathering quality information.
So why was a top-ranking Double Number Fixer taking on the role of a field investigator?
Naturally, there was a good reason for it.
“Kieeeek! Die, girl! You'll be my puppet!”
“Hic...!”
“Not so fast.”
“Gack...”
A modified human that had suddenly burst from the ground collapsed, foaming at the mouth from Victor's punch.
It was a surprise attack aimed at Victor's assistant, who had let her guard down for a moment.
But to Victor, who hadn't been distracted by the unnatural breathing he'd sensed nearby, it was a clumsy ploy.
That was it. The reason a celebrity of Victor's stature had to come to the Sky Garden as an investigator.
It was because remnants of the Liberation Army were still lurking throughout the Sky Garden.
Modified humans might not be much of a threat to Fixers.
But to an ordinary person, they were a terrifying nightmare that could snuff out a life in an instant.
They were the very reason why, at this moment, only Fixers above a certain rank were allowed to roam the Sky Garden.
“Good. Captured another one. Rookie. Contact the Association so they can come pick this one up.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And you, assistant, you have a rather cute scream.”
“Sh-shut up!”
“Hahaha! That tickles!”
Thump, thump.
As his assistant, face flushed bright red, lightly pounded on his body, Victor laughed it off nonchalantly and thought to himself.
‘So there are still modified humans left... That explains why progress has been so slow, even after two days. A Single Number Fixer may have come, but they wouldn't have the time to hunt down every last one hiding deep underground... Well, I thought this would be a simple job. Looks like it's going to take a while.’
Surviving this long meant they had considerable skill.
Hiding underground and completely erasing their presence, or concealing themselves inside a withered tree.
The trickiness of these modified humans was on another level entirely.
On top of that, due to the nature of alchemy, they couldn't be detected by magic.
For Fixers, who were more accustomed to dealing with magic, fighting these remnants was certainly not easy.
Still, the silver lining was that with the alchemist Olvis's body confirmed dead, the possibility of more modified humans being mass-produced was gone.
The thought that they wouldn't have to deal with these tricky modified humans anymore once this batch was taken care of was truly motivating.
After the unconscious, fully bound modified human was dragged outside by the rookie.
Victor, having moved away from the scene of Tempest's battle to survey other parts of the Sky Garden, suddenly frowned and spoke.
“Hm? This is a little... strange.”
“What's strange about it?”
“Look at this. There are clear signs of a fight here... but strangely, no traces of magic are being detected.”
“Hmm... You're right. Dozens of undead look like they've been run through a compression press, but detecting no magic is certainly odd. The traces of a spell on the level of a lower-ranked Double Number Fixer shouldn't vanish in just one day.”
The place that puzzled them was a clearing centered around a large tree—the very spot where Yuria had fought the combined modified human, Triggers, during the incident.
Countless skeletons were crushed, and the chest of a massive modified human, well over two meters tall, had been pierced through...
And yet, for some reason, the equipment Victor had brought could only detect the faintest traces of magic.
It was an illogical result, as if this wasn't the work of magic at all.
Normally, one might blame faulty equipment or the fall of the Sky Garden.
But as it happened, Victor knew of a power that could do this without being magic.
What he immediately thought of was none other than Psychic Power.
A powerful psychic ability, originating from Invaders, could certainly commit such an act without leaving a trace.
‘Psychic Power... Come to think of it, there have been rumors about a sharp increase in strange phenomena that can't be explained by magic. Could a psychic have been involved in this incident...?’
Crouching down, Victor stroked his chin and continued to think deeply.
If someone had calmly committed an act on this scale, there should have been witnesses.
However, among those the first Fixers on the scene had encountered, there was no one suspicious.
Well, if he had to point a finger, the black-haired girl confirmed by the Single Number Fixer was quite suspicious...
But Raven had already secured her and safely handed her over to the Association.
Moreover, since Tempest, whose condition had improved, had vouched that she wasn't heavily involved in the incident, Victor had no leeway to defy his word and dig deeper.
Thus, feeling unable to reach the truth due to a severe lack of clues, he watched his assistant diligently taking photos and said.
“Check if there were any outsiders involved in this incident, other than the Fixers and examinees.”
“Huh? You mean... besides the Seven Extremes who attacked, right?”
“Ah, yes. In my opinion... if there were no outsiders, then they must be among the examinees.”
As his assistant gave him a puzzled look, not quite understanding.
Victor straightened up from his crouched position and said with a serious expression.
“A psychic.”
An intuition that leaped over the lack of clues and unhesitatingly approached the truth.
It was a sharp premonition, one that would have sent a shiver down the spine of a certain white-haired girl somewhere.
Of course, the person in question, Yuria, had no time to think about such things.
She was currently in a tense situation that made her mouth go dry.
“Yuria, we need to talk.”
“...”
Facing a completely serious Raven, devoid of any playfulness, she hunched her shoulders like a cornered mouse.
She felt as if she had been driven to the edge of a cliff.