Chapter 83

Objectively speaking, Akashmir was never an easy opponent.

Her race was a Dark Elf specialized in offensive magic that killed enemies, among Elves already proficient in magic.

Moreover, as she was the kind of magical genius said to appear only once every thousand years, her skills were truly top-tier among mages.

Especially terrifying about Akashmir’s signature red lightning was its speed.

Even ordinary lightning far surpassed the speed of sound, but the red lightning pierced through obstacles at twice that speed.

In a world where reaching the enemy first provided a significant advantage, the red lightning was a nightmare even if you knew it was coming.

No wonder she had claimed one of the seven great positions in the interspecies liberation army at such a young age for an elf.

‘Well, no matter how fast it is… it’s meaningless if it can’t break through my defense.’

However, that red lightning posed little threat to me now.

If I couldn’t react to it anyway, then simply avoiding a speed contest was enough.

Telekinesis itself was a force capable of physical impact.

Thus, by thickly enveloping Greg and myself like a round ball, the opponent’s attacks merely scratched the surface of that mass.

Of course, this method inevitably wasted energy.

It was akin to continuously holding something heavy without rest.

If it came down to attrition warfare, this brainless defense would immediately lead to defeat.

But it was fine. What I aimed for wasn’t a prolonged battle that required efficient use of strength.

It was a short decisive battle to take out the enemy’s breath in one swift move!

“Aaaah! Don’t look at me with those eyes! Damn you!”

“….”

BOOM!

Akashmir, cornered after allowing consecutive attacks, screamed with bloodshot eyes.

Perhaps she was recalling a terrible past from her childhood, trauma she couldn’t forget even after becoming one of the seven greats.

I knew it intellectually, but I didn’t particularly feel sorry for her.

Considering what Akashmir had done, she had already crossed an irreversible path.

Moreover, thinking she might reappear someday to block our way again hardened my resolve further.

‘I didn’t really want to do this… but I have no choice. To protect Greg, you need to step back.’

I didn’t particularly want to kill people.

It wasn’t because every life was noble and precious or anything cliché like that.

I just felt that getting used to killing would make it impossible to return to who I was before.

Still, that was just what I wanted to believe.

It wasn’t some unshakable conviction or resolution to uphold no matter what.

If there was something more important than such vague willpower to protect, it could easily be discarded.

Therefore, having made my decision, I pointed my hand at Akashmir with genuine murderous intent.

‘Telekinesis is an ability that transmits pure force without any medium. So, concentrating extreme force on a single point… should produce this phenomenon.’

CRACKLE.

From the empty space above, a strange sound echoed.

Actually, it wasn’t completely empty.

There were invisible air particles present.

Telekinesis compressed these air particles endlessly into an infinitesimal point.

The air forced into a small point collided strongly, heating up extremely.

Heating up, and heating up until it distorted the surrounding space like heat haze.

Soon, the temperature at the compression point reached thousands of degrees, forming plasma, the fourth state of matter!

“Guh… This intense light and heat is…!”

“Aaah!”

The rapidly imbalanced air naturally stirred a fierce wind, scattering hair.

Within the blurry storm, the shining plasma was like a lighthouse flashing in a dark sea.

The intense high-temperature plasma instantly heated the surrounding air, stimulating the skin with scorching heat.

Even Akashmir’s lightning seemed powerless against this massive crystallization of energy, clearly indicating which way the battle was tilting.

“Damn it!”

“….”

Creating plasma by compressing air wasn’t easy.

I had to use telekinesis to the point of exhaustion, feeling like an adult with seemingly limitless power.

Still, this should be decisive. It was sufficient as the final blow to finish the opponent.

The plasma was easily released by creating a tiny gap.

It was like a colossal flash, greedily devouring everything in its path like an absolute predator.

Yet, there was no grand sound. Or perhaps it was beyond the hearing range of living creatures.

The sapphire plasma moved forward, swallowing the approaching red lightning and effortlessly crushing all objects in its path into particles…

“!”

Just before the sun-like blue flash swallowed the defenseless Akashmir.

A massive dizziness hit, and the omnipotent sensation filling my body suddenly drained away.

The world spun dizzyingly.

Unable to stand, I collapsed onto the spot.

Ow! Even amidst the dizziness, my butt hurt from properly hitting the stone floor.

What on earth was happening?

As I clutched my throbbing head and endured the rising nausea, Tesseract’s notably weak voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

[Mama… Sorry, I’ve run out of power…]

With effort, I opened my eyes and looked down at Tesseract’s voice.

What met my eyes was a very familiar soft, small palm.

Come to think of it, the center of gravity that felt like it would tip forward when standing still had returned to normal…

Apparently, I was back in the familiar form of a child.

It seemed Tesseract’s power, which had been maintaining my adult form, had finally run out.

It wasn’t surprising.

The telekinesis I had been using in the fight was undoubtedly a power not native to this world.

Its foundation came from the Rift Energy I had diligently fed Tesseract.

Eventually, it was natural for the transformation to unravel over time.

But to think that nearly three weeks’ worth of collection from the closet couldn’t last even five minutes.

Even though I was handling powers of a different caliber, this efficiency was terrible.

And to unravel precisely at the critical moment of finishing off the enemy.

That’s why I aimed for a quick decisive victory! Cold sweat trickled down my forehead.

Still, there was a chance.

Though the transformation had unraveled, remnants of telekinesis I had spread around remained.

If I could somehow use them to land a strike…!

“Hah, hah… What? Me? Still alive…? Ah, so that’s how it is? Of course, I couldn’t possibly lose. Such a terrible nightmare… couldn’t happen!”

ZAP!

Thanks to the plasma dissipating and scattering, Akashmir survived.

Seemingly disoriented, she scattered red currents all around.

She must have consumed quite a bit of mana, as it wasn’t the flashy magic that shook heaven and earth like before.

Just an ordinary lightning spell scattering blade-like currents everywhere.

But to me, now back in my child form, it was a breathtakingly overwhelming force.

‘Ugh! This is… unbearable!’

BANG!

The telekinetic shield I had barely scraped together shattered easily, and my body floated up.

I tumbled backward several times before stopping next to Greg.

This was bad. Now even my last resort was gone.

With my tiny telekinetic power, there was no way to inflict damage!

Of course, Akashmir wasn’t in perfect condition either.

Signs of being battered were visible all over her body, and her movements were awkward, as if her mana was depleted.

Still, even in her tattered state, she likely had enough leeway to finish off Greg and me.

It was a desperate situation with nowhere left to rely on.

“Yuria, are you alright? Ugh, right now… let me try.”

“….”

What could he possibly do with that body? It was impossible. Wasn’t he being foolish?

I patted Greg’s back repeatedly to stop him.

But perhaps his skin was too tough, as only my palms stung.

Wobbling.

The battered Akashmir slowly approached.

Perhaps with little mana left, she intended to finish us off decisively so we couldn’t escape.

Her slow approach felt like the grim reaper coming to collect lives.

At this rate, things weren’t looking good…

As I thought this and tried to find another way while pushing myself up from the ground, a sharp gunshot suddenly rang out, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Hey, that’s enough.”

Turning toward the voice, I saw a very welcome face.

A man in a tattered shirt and suit pants, with messy black hair.

Looking rather tired, unmistakably, it was Raven.

Being positioned higher up naturally made everyone look up.

Akashmir frowned in clear displeasure and spoke to him.

“You’re that human I saw earlier. How did you come back? What about Hurakan?”

“Well… here he is.”

“! You!”

He casually responded to her and tossed something off his shoulder.

THUD!

Raising a cloud of black dust, what fell to the ground was none other than a giant werewolf.

Judging by its rolled-back eyes and limp collapse, it was completely unconscious.

They managed to win over there! As expected, I believed in them!

Overjoyed by the news, I clenched my fists and sparkled with excitement.

Meanwhile, Greg suddenly threw a large coat at me as he clutched his wound.

Huh, why give me this? Did I look cold?

Confused by his action, Greg furrowed his brow in pain and explained.

“I heard about it. You’re hiding from Raven as a ghost. For now, hide yourself with this.”

“!”

Ah, right. Right now, I didn’t have a mask or anything…

Moreover, after being told not to interfere, I had secretly sneaked over here.

Of course, being discovered by Raven would be disastrous.

Quickly, I bowed deeply to Greg in gratitude.

Wrapping Greg’s large coat around me like a robe, I swiftly retrieved the fox mask rolling on the floor with telekinesis.

While I was frantically hiding my identity, Raven and Akashmir continued their conversation, eyeing each other warily.

“Take that guy and retreat. I shot a bullet into his heart, but since he’s a werewolf, he’ll survive with emergency treatment.”

“Hmph. Why should I? Whether he lives or dies is none of my concern. Letting you escape is the real issue.”

“Oh? You don’t seem in great shape though… Do you really need to see this through to the end? Well, I’m not exactly lacking confidence either.”

Grrrrr…

Perhaps because both Raven and Akashmir were absurdly strong.

The sheer intensity of their gazes froze the air solid.

But soon, Akashmir was the first to yield.

Hurakan, the werewolf with a bullet in his heart slowly dying, was also one of the seven greats like her.

In the liberation army, which prioritized quality over quantity, losing one of the seven greats would be an unacceptable loss.

Moreover, having nearly exhausted her mana fighting me, she likely had no guarantee of defeating Raven, who had taken down Hurakan in her current state.

“Tch. It’s irritating. Remember this, I’ll definitely repay this debt.”

In the end, Akashmir twisted her face menacingly in clear dissatisfaction.

Grabbing Hurakan by the nape of his neck, she departed.

As she disappeared and the nearby presence faded away,

Raven sighed and jumped down, carrying someone tucked under his arm.

“Phew, I almost used up all my special bullets fighting the werewolf. Good thing they retreated peacefully. Hey, Greg. The woman here is safe.”

“Yeah, thank you. This has caused quite the trouble.”

“Th, Thank you so much. I don’t know how to repay this kindness…”

“Nah, it’s nothing… If the Liberation Army gets involved, it can’t be helped. Better to move a bit than let those guys capture a master craftsman who can fix artifacts.”

Sneakily.

Almost entirely hidden within Greg’s coat, I cautiously peeked outside.

There stood Raven, covered in battle scars, and a somewhat familiar half-lidded woman.

Eh, isn’t that Karen?

The Arachne artisan who could repair any artifact.

Could the master artisan Greg mentioned actually be Karen?

It felt strange to discover this connection, something not even mentioned in the original work.

But while I inwardly marveled at this revelation, the conversation seemed to have ended, and everyone’s gaze quickly shifted toward me.

Perhaps they were questioning the presence of a suspiciously dressed stranger suddenly appearing on the scene.

Raven glanced this way and asked with a serious expression.

“So, who might you be… Hm?”

“?”

Was that a laugh I just heard or was I mistaken?

Seeing Raven’s still-serious face, I couldn’t help but tilt my head slightly.

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