NOVPUB"To take down that powerful-looking monster in a single blow... Your skill is incredible. Once again, thank you."
Slightly.
I moved my head just a little, as if glancing toward the edge of my vision.
And there was David, staring directly at me.
His words this time carried more sincerity than before.
There was no sign of pretense in his voice—he genuinely saw me as the person who had saved his life.
I had just ended up injuring my right arm from using my finisher and had been regretting it a little.
But hearing that kind of gratitude... it felt worth it after all.
‘Hmm, but how should I react to this? I don’t really want to show my face...’
The truth was, I wasn’t in a position to respond easily to David’s words.
I didn’t want him to realize that I was Yuria.
Of course, even if David found out I was a psychic, I doubted it would ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) drastically change how he treated me.
But it was a sensitive topic. Unless absolutely necessary, I wanted to keep it secret.
“...”
And right now, I wasn’t in the condition to speak anyway—so I had no choice.
I tore part of my clothing to wrap my bleeding shoulder, then simply gave a small nod in response.
Thankfully, he seemed to interpret that as me being reserved or not very sociable.
He didn’t show any sign of suspicion as he began offering a summary of the situation.
"If you're looking for other candidates, heading north might be wise. There was some commotion in that direction earlier while we were retreating."
“...?”
"And I don’t know if this will help, but based on what I’ve learned about the enemy’s patterns so far..."
I didn’t expect him to start sharing intel.
He must really think I’m an active Fixer.
There were only 121 candidates left, and we’d all spent hours riding the airship.
With David’s intelligence, it probably wasn’t hard for him to memorize all our faces.
So if I wasn’t a candidate, and I had this level of strength, the obvious conclusion would be: Fixer.
Especially since there were some Fixers who worked without ever revealing their faces.
He must’ve assumed I was one of those underground types. That worked out nicely for me.
‘Guess I’ll just go with the flow for now. It’d be stranger not to be a Fixer in this situation. I’ll play along and get David to leave.’
I nodded gently, as if I fully understood his words.
Then I pointed at the group of injured candidates, looking at David.
He seemed to understand exactly what I meant from just that.
With a serious expression, he tapped his chest with a clenched fist and spoke.
"Yes. I’ll lead them to a safe place."
“...”
"Then... I’ll see you again someday."
With that, David turned crisply and walked toward the group of candidates.
They, too, showed their willingness to follow him, as if eager to leave this place as soon as possible.
Some of them suggested it might be safer to stay near me.
But when David insisted he didn’t want to trouble me, they all nodded in agreement.
The way he led them even during the undead attack must have left an impression.
It felt good seeing how much trust he had earned from the others.
"Thank you!"
"Please stay alive!"
“...!”
And so the candidates hurried off with David.
For some reason, they seemed thrilled when I waved at them. Guess surviving really made them happy.
Good. That meant no more eyes on me for now.
I looked around again, confirming that I was alone, and then began walking toward the location Murmur had mentioned.
This place was a clearing with a giant tree at its center and no other trees nearby.
Naturally, the key location was at the base of that tree—its roots.
This should be close enough.
I lowered myself near the tree and placed both hands on the dirt.
‘Flow the telekinesis into the ground... and find the box hidden deep in the roots!’
Thump, thump...
Was it because the roots were so tangled?
I heard something snapping and tearing beneath the soil.
It must’ve been designed to prevent the box from accidentally surfacing on its own.
I could almost sense what kind of concerns Murmur had when he buried it like this.
Luckily, it wasn’t buried too deeply.
The hidden box soon popped out of the ground.
‘This is... the box containing the Seed of the World Tree.’
The box Murmur had used to hold the Seed was small enough to lift with one hand.
Maybe because the contents were just a single seed, it looked like a jewelry box—something for a bracelet or necklace.
Was it to suppress the seed’s life activity?
The box was cold to the touch, as if radiating its own chill.
Would be nice to carry around on a hot summer day.
I muttered that nonsense to myself as I lifted the box to eye level.
To think I went through all that to get this.
A strange mix of pride—like having reached the summit of a mountain—and emptiness welled in my chest.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on trivial feelings.
If this got stolen, it’d be the worst-case scenario. I had to destroy the seed as quickly as possible.
So, with the help of my telekinesis, I forced the box open, practically breaking it.
‘So this is the Seed of the World Tree? It’s... smaller than I expected.’
At last, exposed to the air of the world, the Seed of the World Tree appeared.
It was almost laughably small, given its grand name.
It was so tiny I could wrap my whole hand around it.
If you engraved some markings on it, it’d be the size of a ping-pong ball.
But really, that was a good thing.
If I shattered it and scattered the fragments all over the Sky Garden, no one would be able to use it.
I knelt in front of the surprisingly dainty seed,
and summoned every ounce of telekinetic power I could muster.
“...!”
Shatter!
I poured all my focus into crushing the Seed of the World Tree.
I wouldn’t let the world be destroyed. This was my desperate resolve, unleashed with full force.
But ten, twenty seconds passed...
And nothing changed.
No matter how much power I applied, the seed retained its form as if mocking my efforts.
How absurdly hard was this thing?
I held my breath while exerting force, and now I was getting dizzy.
‘Tch... then what if I use that finisher that even worked on the fused modified human...!’
I raised my uninjured left hand and gathered telekinesis.
This time, since I wasn’t fighting, my focus wasn’t divided.
A more refined version of the mirage I used before formed in my palm.
Overwhelming force, capable of crushing through anything in its path.
I slammed the full-powered Telekinetic Flick MAX into the seed.
This was the strongest attack I could deliver right now.
An incredible strike that could tear through alloy like paper.
“...”
The ground was wrecked from the shockwave, but the seed remained perfectly intact, not a scratch on it.
Meanwhile, my torn-up right arm started throbbing again.
Why was I the one getting hurt? Did the seed have some passive attack reflection or something?
...At this point, I had no choice but to admit it.
This thing was ridiculously tough. There was no way I could break it on my own.
‘Well, yeah. If it could be broken by force, Murmur would’ve destroyed it long ago.’
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Murmur wasn’t an idiot—he understood how dangerous the Seed was better than anyone.
If it could’ve been destroyed by brute strength, he would’ve taken care of it himself.
But since that wasn’t possible, he had chosen to hide it where no one could reach.
Even in the original timeline, its existence wasn’t revealed until much later.
Murmur’s judgment had been almost completely correct.
Aah... so then, what now?
If I couldn’t destroy the seed before someone took it, all my plans up to now would be for nothing.
At this rate, the only option would be Tempest obliterating the entire Liberation Army...
And me running away from everyone trying to steal the seed. Ugh, this was a mess.
‘Maybe if I transformed with the Tesseract, I’d gain enough power to destroy it...’
But that presented a whole new set of problems.
What if I transformed with the Tesseract and still couldn’t break the seed?
That would mean wasting one of my only chances to change the tide.
And even if I succeeded in breaking it, who knew when I’d need the Tesseract’s power again?
It would be like trading long-term strategy for short-term success.
So... I’d decide later, when it really mattered.
Holding the seed, I pondered for a moment, then decided to postpone the destruction.
Rather than eliminate a potential threat now, it was more important to keep the Tesseract card in my hand.
‘In that case... phew, for now I need to buy time. I’ll put the seed back in the box and return to Murmur. I’ll figure out the next step then...’
I slipped the seed back into the cold box, held it close to my chest, and stood up.
If I couldn’t destroy the seed, there was no reason to stay here alone.
I had to return to Murmur—to keep my promise, and because it was the best move right now.
...Sorry, David. I felt a little bad for tuning out your earlier advice.
But I didn’t have the luxury to worry about anyone else.
“...!”
Just as I let go of that lingering hesitation and turned to leave—
A powerful tremor rippled through the ground, as if the entire Sky Garden was collapsing.
I instinctively looked up—
And saw a pillar of storm rising high enough to reach the sky.
Without a doubt, it was Tempest’s magic.
