Chapter 154
Guardian, Nokya. Its threat level had been E-grade from the start—a lifeform that never truly entered the superhuman realm. This was a fact the Earth's allies had learned through conversations with Nokya itself. Nokya had admitted outright that its power hadn't changed much from back then to now. Of course, this excluded the ability to deploy and maintain the dimensional veil.
Anyway. How could a mere E-grade entity erect a dimensional veil worthy of awe even from Sage? The answer lay in the blessing of an existence called the Guardian God.
To make it simple, here's a brief rundown of what the allies had relayed about the Guardian God and Nokya.
Long ago, an entity calling itself the God of Protection visited Earth. Surveying the planet's vulnerability to otherworldly invasions, it expressed deep concern. Under the pretext of bestowing a favor upon Earth, it created a special lifeform. That was Nokya.
Nokya was infused with the Guardian God's blessing, granting it the ability to borrow and wield the god's power. With that strength, Nokya could unfurl the dimensional veil to block otherworldly incursions, maintaining it for eons in accordance with the god's will.
In short, Nokya was the Guardian God's creation and proxy. Tougher and stronger than an F-grade ordinary human, but without the blessing, it was just a frail being with no special abilities.
'More than that, I never expected Medical Angel to be classified as a guardian god too... Well, with an SS-grade threat level, it's not that surprising.'
After sorting my thoughts for a moment, I posed a question to Sage.
"Sage. So, has the Guardian God of Protection's blessing vanished from Nokya now, replaced by Medical Angel's blessing?"
"I don't get it. If it's not a new blessing from Medical, then why did the original Guardian God's blessing disappear?"
Sage's speculation made sense. Whatever—I'll just assume that's the case and move on. The exact reason for the blessing's removal wasn't that important anyway. Nokya was already cut off from the Guardian of Protection, and there was no way to reconnect with that god.
So, the key issue now was one: how to proceed from here. That was what we needed to discuss in depth.
"...Sage. Can Medical Angel grant blessings or whatever too?"
A bit of time passed. Then the chat from the quiet allies picked up again.
A little more time passed. Then came some welcome news.
The blessing on Nokya had succeeded. Even so, she couldn't wield veil-related abilities—only those Medical could handle.
Still, who knew? Maybe one of Medical Angel's powers could protect Earth. We hadn't fully tested all of Medical's abilities yet, since we'd dispatched her in such a rush.
For now, we'd check what powers the blessed Nokya could use.
The allies said they'd head outside the villa to test Nokya's blessing. Amid that, Pruru uploaded a photo via chat. A shot of Nokya.
I'd been curious what she looked like. So this was it.
"Thanks. I was just about to ask for a photo of Nokya."
While waiting for the allies to test Nokya's abilities, I carefully transcribed her image into the otherworld codex from the photo.
ZG54MnNzTXVMSlNjeVFQOHVaMW5leUhpL3FzUHBiOHMvSHRzaWhVTkVEUENZbmo5UWNhWUhDVndmZzNyVGNHdA
Threat Level:E-grade
Ability:Medical Angel's Blessing
Traits: Likes humans. Befriended a few long ago.
When Nokya was born, no humans existed. The environment was presumed too harsh for life itself. After the dimensional veil formed, diverse lifeforms began to emerge. Otherworldly incursions increased then, prompting Nokya to steadily reinforce the veil.
By the time I finished the codex entry, the allies had completed testing Nokya's blessing and reported back via chat on her usable abilities.
Nokya could wield just one power through the blessing: ultra-rapid healing. It manifested via pink liquid.
With the blessing, she could freely manipulate the pink liquid. However, wide-area healing was impossible.
"That's the only ability, right?"
Regrettably, blessed Nokya lacked the power to safeguard Earth. She couldn't perform resurrection miracles either.
"...This is a problem."
The ability wasn't bad. It was healing powered by an SS-grade blessing, after all. As long as the target wasn't instantly killed, any creature could be healed in a flash.
If it allowed hidden wide-area healing without specific targeting, she could've protected Earth even after the veil fell—by instantly treating monster attack victims.
But no need to lament the impossibility. It was just a stopgap anyway, not a true solution.
For reference, Nokya couldn't directly heal people herself. Her existence had to stay secret. If humans learned of her powers, they wouldn't leave her alone—experimentation or kidnapping to turn her into a healing machine, especially in a post-veil collapse panic.
"...Keep Nokya hidden from people as much as possible. Treat her as your exclusive healer."
"And Sage, about that last-resort plan we mentioned briefly..."
"Yeah. Looks like we have to push it forward. Without the veil, Earth won't hold out long before it falls."
We might repel a few invasions. Earth's humans could manage it alone, or I could use designated dispatch rights. But no guarantee of eternity. Otherworld assaults would be relentless, possibly with beings beyond my capacity, from countless dimensions.
Until we found a way to remake the veil, enduring endless invasions was near impossible.
After discussing with Sage, I'd made my decision.
Migrate Earth's humans to Elemenasia.
No other way now. Earth was on borrowed time.
Of course, Sage couldn't recover her strength before the veil vanished. Even then, opening a safe, large-scale portal would take ages.
Thus, post-collapse, Earth had to endure the chaos of endless otherworld floods until Sage regained her power.
If Sage and Nokya's estimates held, the dimensional veil would collapse in about three to four months.