Avatar Challenge (5): Mortals of the Super Galactic Empire Federation Are Not Incompetent
The mortals belonging to the Super Galactic Empire Federation are not incompetent. They are members of the empire, recognized by the great galaxy spirit as the dominant race across vast galaxies.
"Our constellation has also severed contracts with their avatars! There are over dozens of avatars contracted with that one alone...!"
A database recording countless cases and the corresponding manuals. Initial response protocols for previously undiscovered abilities or dangerous creatures. Cosmic monsters. Malevolent constellations hostile to mortals. Cosmic disasters. Records of battles against all manner of diseases exist.
And so, those who sensed something off about this incident sprang into swift action.
The first might be coincidence, but from the second onward, it was clearly a problem.
"...From now on, we will classify this incident as terrorism against the constellations and the Federation."
"It's possible the constellations suddenly changed their minds, but there's also the chance their true selves were attacked."
"Isn't it just some malevolent constellation behind this?! There are plenty of constellations hostile to the Federation..."
"For now, let's request a planetary lockdown from the higher-ups. We might get support from the defense forces too."
"We'll scour every recording device in the vicinity!"
The meeting proceeded smoothly. After all, those who had risen to high positions wouldn't be incompetent with a constellation watching from above.
"I spotted a few suspicious participants among the contestants."
"The most suspicious one has to be that Zuag-Nakril guy."
"He might have received power from a constellation designated as an enemy of the Federation, so let's detain him for now."
"According to Federation law, basic rights can be restricted in cases of suspected terrorism..."
But they were mortals, after all. Humans, not gods, and thus bound by clear limitations in ability.
It was only natural, really. No matter how far science had advanced, the gap between immortals and mortals was immense.
"Indeed. That Nakril fellow—it's odd that no constellations have shown interest in him until now."
"Two contractees have already emerged, yet the top performer hasn't made a contract? Hmm."
They had planet-destroying weapons, the ultimate armaments. But if an immortal sought to undermine the mortal Federation from within, piece by piece, without underestimating them, wouldn't they be helpless?
I had no intention of blaming them, but if things continued like this, cracks would form in my cherished anthill.
[Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, summons two avatars.]
"Constellation?"
"What is it, my lord?"
For constellations from other dimensions, the direct means of interfering in that material realm was through their avatars. So, to boost my avatars' fame as well, perhaps I should have them take the lead this time...
"Ah, the Dragon God?! Understood!"
Whoosh.
As I explained the plan to my avatars, I spotted one darting out of the meeting room.
The girl who had contracted with the Owner of the Blue Breath not long ago. That azure dragon. I'd thought her merely cute, but she might have some real talent after all.
* * *
The response to the terrorism was swift.
"A-ah... This is the Gaiana Planet Crisis Response Division, Team 2 Leader. Terrorist activity has been confirmed in the vicinity, so access to the area is now restricted!"
"Round up anyone suspicious for now!"
"You there! Let's check inside that coat!"
The event venue was quickly secured, broadcasts halted, and a lockdown imposed on the planet.
"What the hell is going on?! Terrorism?"
"Is it related to the Sword on the Ash Heap suddenly vanishing?"
"Which crazy bastard would attack a constellation?"
"No way... are the constellations fighting among themselves...?"
Amid the confused participants complying with the controls, one man was practically dragged away in restraints.
Crash!
Thud—
"Mmph... No... Why me! Mmph!"
"Mr. Zuag-Nakril. You are suspected of complicity and participation in terrorism against constellations. Please come quietly."
It was the bald man who had posted top scores until now: Zuag-Nakril. As he was hauled off with an indignant expression, people whispered in confusion.
Something about him cheating, or being a terrorist, or somehow involved.
"Why's that guy getting arrested?"
"Did he cheat? Or maybe he's tied to the terrorism?"
While most followed orders, someone slipped away quietly, and another tailed him.
A girl with a hairpin in her hair passed through the murmuring crowd and entered an alley, her steps stealthy as if tailing someone. Her eyes glowed faintly, as if locked on her target.
"You there."
"Huh? Me, little miss?"
It didn't take long for her to block an unremarkable-looking man.
Her tone half-certain. She drew a sealing talisman from somewhere and aimed it at him—an avatar.
"I am Hwayeon, avatar contracted with Constellation, Owner of the Blue Breath. Why are you defying the controls and leaving the venue?"
But the man's response was more like muttering to himself.
"Oh? Can you even grant perceptive powers like that? Not bad for a half-baked god who can't escape a single planet..."
"Answer the question. I saw your body turn transparent and slip through the participants."
"I'm not talking to you, bug."
Flash—
"Daring to call my shrine maiden a bug? Who do you think you are to speak so arrogantly?"
Energy gathered, and a majestic azure dragon's form materialized in the air.
"Constellation?!"
Constellation, Owner of the Blue Breath. The azure dragon lord appeared in high spirits but furrowed his brow slightly.
"Oh... and what are you?"
The man before them was undoubtedly a divinity. He didn't register on the AI info-bodies distributed by the galaxy spirit, and even direct descent made him feel hazy. If a higher divinity concealed their presence, lower ones would struggle to detect it.
"Shrine maiden, fall back. The opponent is a suspicious divinity descended into the material realm."
"Hmph? A half-baked god like you... Ah, your eyes are sharp. You might even ascend if you play your cards right."
"...You."
Her senses, honed over millennia of cultivation, were extraordinary. The most suspicious one wouldn't be overt but the one slipping away unnoticed. Her draconic instincts hadn't pointed to that Zuag-Nakril, so she'd sent her shrine maiden to tail anyone suspicious... but a sudden god appearing? What was going on?
"You're definitely different from your side. This is the third time, but your aura still makes me want to puke every time."
"What?"
"Hmm. Taking one more along wouldn't hurt."
The man's hand stretched across space. Clearly a temporary body like hers, but his right arm deformed in an instant and lunged.
In a split-second perceptible only to immortals—despite his ordinary human form, the sole mutation was his right arm, a purple tentacle-like appendage. A chilling aura emanated from the protruding tentacle instead of an arm, freezing her descent body momentarily.
'Tch. With my true self's power, this would be nothing...'
She tried to abandon the temporary body and shift her spirit to her true form, but it required a moment. Mere seconds, but she couldn't buy even that.
A false body linked only by spirit—shatter it or break it, it mattered not. Yet the enemy divinity's confidence nagged at her.
The two constellations that severed avatar contracts recently...
Shuuuaak—
A power restricting a single target's actions. A fragment of something utterly unfamiliar.
Dust falling from on high extended toward her.
Then, could it be that this one relied on...
Through the spirit linked to the temporary body... No, it touches the body...!
Grrr!!!
Drip.
Plop.
"Found you-sawoyo! You black幕!"
With a fierce growl, a massive hunting hound burst from the air, severing the tentacle. The unknown force binding her temporary body released.
* * *
Zuag-Nakril. A suspicious human with traces of divinity.
Mortal-made ability detectors couldn't sense it, but a god examining closely could.
Having once stepped one foot into transcendence, even faintly, it was detectable. His body clearly bore such traces.
But he wasn't a god in disguise or an apostle, narrowing the possibilities.
First, a demigod born of human-god union.
Second, bearing a divine artifact or blessing.
Third, some other divinity had tampered with his body and mind for unknown reasons.
That made it even stranger. Flaunting top scores in the tournament, practically shouting 'I'm suspicious.'
Of course that would draw constellations' attention. Some might even descend in temporary bodies to inspect him...
"I spotted a few suspicious participants among the contestants."
"The most suspicious one has to be that Zuag-Nakril guy."
Yesterday, without alerting the avatars, I'd quietly descended to scout the area.
That Zuag-Nakril wasn't a demigod or blessed. Instead, I'd spotted a god hiding among the ordinary participants.
Just as a mantis in an ant's disguise can't fool human eyes, I could detect the concealed divinity.
Of course, nothing had happened then, and I couldn't interrogate just for sneaking in disguised.
But causing trouble and then slinking away like a rat? That changed things.
The most suspicious wasn't the obvious bait but the one quietly slipping away amid the chaos.
[Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, instructs to find the man it describes.]
"Pardon? Have you found something?"
[Constellation, Whispering Star Cluster, trusts the senses of its first avatar.]
And so, I'd tasked the avatars with tracking the man's position from yesterday—and lo, the dragon god's avatar was clashing right here.
She'd bolted from the meeting room earlier. Seemed she had some skills.
Now I was certain of most things.
The purple tentacle from the man's right arm just now resembled the one the Sky-Supporting Great Tree had brought last time.
Monstrous gods hostile to this place, lurking beyond the Super Galactic Empire Federation, must be involved. Traces of alien forms—monsters that hated everything in this world—attaining divinity.
Drip.
Plop.
"Found you-sawoyo! You black幕!"
Some vermin had snuck into the mortal Federation.