I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 148: To Protect Everyone (2)

The Sky Garden was like a paradise, a space that seemed to be free of greed. The soft breeze that always seemed to caress, and there were no fights or struggles for food. The forest and lake, full of creatures from another world, were truly as beautiful as something painted on a canvas.

If there were a heaven for those without greed, this would probably be the shape it would take. Thus, the existence of this Sky Garden could be called nothing short of an ideal beyond reality.

“Hm, what a terrible sight this has become in such a short time.” “Damn... How could they do something this cruel! Liberation Army, do you have no conscience at all!”

However, the Sky Garden now looked starkly different from before. The gentle breeze that used to rustle the hair had turned into a biting, cold wind that tore at the skin. The lake, which once sparkled in the sunlight, had turned into a rotting puddle filled with floating pieces of decaying flesh.

And skeleton soldiers roaming around, as well as giant zombies, even larger than trees. The Sky Garden had completely lost its original beauty and had become a hellscape. The scene, witnessed by the secondary examiner of Team White, Peacekeeper, brought tears to his eyes and filled him with rage.

The reason was simple. He was always a show-off, a muscle man, but he was also someone who loved beautiful nature deeply. He was so angry that his overly large chest muscles trembled slightly.

“Waaaaaah! I can’t stand seeing this beautiful scenery destroyed any longer! Peacekeeper Dash!” “Ah, wait, stop, you fool muscle head! ...Damn, he’s gone. I told you protecting the candidates was the priority...”

The first-round examiner, Mira Valentine, frowned involuntarily. This was because Peacekeeper, seeming to lose his patience, crossed his arms and ran off toward a group of skeletons in the distance without thinking.

What had to be prioritized now wasn’t driving out the enemies that attacked the Sky Garden. As Mira had said several times, the priority was rescuing the isolated candidates within the garden.

To think he would forget the goal the moment he stepped outside and rush off. He was someone Mira just wanted to smack on the back of the head with her palm.

Still, the good news was that Peacekeeper was essentially a useless force.

Even as a Triple Fixer, he was at the bottom of the rankings, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he were kicked out of the top 1000 at any time. For Mira, who dealt with magic that made it hard to distinguish opponents, it was actually more comfortable traveling alone.

‘...Is the signal being jammed? The Watch’s communication isn’t working well. If this is the case, there’s no reason to distribute the Watches to the candidates. Damn, the detailed information about the Fixer exam must be confidential. How far has the information leaked?’

As Mira checked the Watch, she continued thinking but then shook her head lightly.

The issue of internal traitors wasn’t something to be calmly thinking about in a situation as urgent as this. In the current, time-sensitive situation, she needed to focus on what needed to be done immediately.

She then saw a skeleton approaching her and, after confirming its position, she put on the sunglasses from her chest pocket and lightly drew her magical power.

“Premere Manu Gigantis.”

The spell meant "to crush with the hand of a giant." As soon as the words left Mira’s lips, an enormous pressure, as if the entire space were being squeezed by a hydraulic press, was unleashed.

“Creeeak...” “C-Craaaack...!”

The skeletons, who had shown murderous intent, couldn’t resist the force and their bodies crumbled with a screech. For Mira Valentine, a top-level gravity mage, a wave of weak opponents was meaningless.

Soon, all the skeletons and even the giant zombie, which had been hiding in the ground, became nothing but a nasty mass, crushed flat. As she deactivated the surrounding magic, Mira brushed her bangs aside in annoyance and muttered.

“Ugh, you idiots ruined all the precious ingredients of the Sky Garden. You’ll pay with your lives, you damn bastards.”

Was she really a Triple Number Fixer? It seemed almost effortless for her to wipe out the undead.

Now, she just needed to find the isolated candidates and send them to Leviathan while taking care of the skeletons. As Mira thought this and casually walked toward the source of the noise, suddenly something enormous began lumbering toward her from the other side of the forest.

Another undead? Raising her guard, Mira couldn’t help but tremble in disbelief when she saw the figure emerging from the shadows.

“That, idiot... I didn’t expect it, but I didn’t think you’d be this incompetent...” “What’s this? This time it’s a woman? Hehe... I like women. This works out perfectly.”

What emerged was a large, fat man with severe skin problems. Especially his upper face, grotesquely swollen, was enough to make anyone feel repulsed.

The giant man, after eyeing Mira, smacked his lips and threw something near him with one hand.

“Ugh, kuh...”

The object was none other than Peacekeeper, covered in blood.

Coughing and gasping for air, he seemed to still be alive, but his body was covered in bruises and his eyes rolled back, clearly having suffered a brutal beating.

‘No signs of dangerous magic, but Peacekeeper got caught? Even looking like that... he’s probably quite a formidable foe.’

Even by Fixer standards, Peacekeeper wasn’t outstanding, but he was still strong enough to take on most enemies. To think he was so easily defeated in such a short time.

After quickly assessing the situation, Mira cast a gravity-based magic to compress a small area.

“In Copinum Condere!” “Hmm? What is this!?”

The spell meant “to put into the coffin.” This was a gravity spell that raised the pressure to the extreme in a radius of several tens of centimeters, crushing the target!

Of course, this spell was extremely powerful, but it had a major drawback—it required immense consumption of magical power and concentration. However, Mira judged that it would be more than enough to inflict fatal damage on her opponent.

“Ck, ckh? This is magic! Hehehe! This doesn’t work on me, Bruugus!” “What...!”

What unfolded next was the exact opposite of what Mira had expected. Bruugus, kneeling on one ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) knee, seemed to notice something and opened his mouth wide.

But just that was enough for the powerful gravity magic pressing down on him to be nullified!

It wasn’t because he had used opposing magic or a special artifact, but just by that simple reaction, Mira’s magic had been rendered ineffective. She couldn’t understand what was happening, and Mira stared wide-eyed in shock, unable to continue with her next move.

Although she was an excellent mage, her lack of combat experience left her at a complete loss in this unprecedented situation.

Bruugus, seemingly delighted by Mira’s surprise, twisted his ugly face into a grin and spoke in a more relaxed tone.

“I am Bruugus, a modified human created by the great creator Olvis and a member of the Seven Elite Guards! I’ve gained the ability to absorb magical power from magic itself thanks to his grace! Hehehe! The more complicated the magic, the stronger this power works. That means powerful mages like you are my natural enemies!”

Mira found his words utterly absurd. Absorbing magical power from magic itself? It was a phenomenon so far beyond common sense that she couldn’t even comprehend it.

Bruugus, the nightmare of mages, laughed ominously. This was the terrifying power of the modified humans who had attacked the Sky Garden.

At this moment, she was facing the greatest crisis of her life.

***

“Hm? Really? Could you explain more?” “Ah, kkk... Olvis-sama, the creator... has made... 31 subjects... But among them, only five made it into the elite guard... The rest are all defective products...”

Somewhere in the Sky Garden. In a place far from the chaos, a woman and a grotesque monster were sitting together, talking.

But if you looked closely, it was an utterly nauseating scene. The woman was sitting on the monster, which looked like a combination of a mantis and a human, and had her fingers jammed into its head.

She was Vespera. The only pureblooded primordial being in the world, and in the Sky Garden, she was second only to Tempest in danger.

“Heh, why do you call the rest defective products?” “T-That’s because... compared to their special abilities... they’re too weak in durability... or they can’t use magic... or... their intelligence is low...”

“I see. So are you a defective product?” “I-I am officially a member of the elite guard, the 3rd knight... I command the other modified humans...”

“Hm, so you were unlucky. Then why did you touch me, little one?” “Ck, kkiiiiiiick!”

Crack! The head of the mantis-like modified human exploded like a watermelon. Vespera lightly gathered her magical power in her fingertips and created a small shockwave.

Well, at least her curiosity was satisfied. She stood up and lightly licked the blood and brain matter off her fingers.

“Hm, so this is the taste of alchemically made food. It’s strangely mixed up, so it tastes awful. Sigh, unless it’s a dragon....”

A red aura briefly flickered in Vespera’s eyes.

Was it hunger, or was it curiosity? She hummed lightly as she muttered to herself.

“I won’t be satisfied.”

Beyond Vespera’s gaze, there was the unmistakable presence of a dragon, even from a distance.

But in the end, the last one laughing would be me. She thought to herself with an intrigued smile, as if watching a fight unfold.