A young woman with blonde hair, looking barely over twenty, crouched down and grabbed a handful of black, scorched earth. She wore a simple black sleeveless top, brown cargo pants, and leather boots.
Beside her, a bizarre Cursed Spirit resembling a snake made of thick segments of bone and muscle coiled around her.
"Interesting."
Watching the dirt mixed with crystallized structures slip through her fingers, the blonde woman smiled ambiguously.
If viewed from above, one would see she was standing in the center of a circular scorched crater nearly 200 meters in diameter. Red sparks still littered the surrounding ground, and the center was nearly 50 meters deep.
"Miss Tsukumo, thank you for your hard work."
When the blonde woman with the "biker chick" vibe climbed out of the crater and reached the safe zone, a group of men in black suits immediately surrounded her.
The leader asked impatiently, "So, what exactly was it?"
The blonde woman, addressed as Miss Tsukumo, looked arrogant and didn't answer directly. Instead, she asked, "Where's my bike?"
Hearing her non-answer, the leader sighed. He was clearly used to her temper.
He signaled his subordinates.
Soon, another man in a black suit pushed over a pricey, limited-edition silver-and-black Harley Davidson.
Seeing her beloved bike, the blonde woman's eyes lit up. She hopped on familiarly, put on her helmet and goggles, and turned the key to start the engine in one smooth motion.
Everyone just watched without complaint. Because the girl in front of them was the strongest Sorcerer present—no, the strongest Sorcerer in the entire Association.
The only Special Grade Sorcerer:
Yuki Tsukumo.
Mei Mei's exaggerated report earlier had touched a nerve with the higher-ups of the Sorcerer Association. They immediately dispatched their highest-level combat asset, Special Grade Sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo, to investigate.
It was sheer luck that this little girl happened to be in Japan; otherwise, they wouldn't have found her even if they searched the whole world.
"The Cursed Energy residue is very faint. The residuals were likely wiped, so I can't tell what it was," Yuki finally said before leaving.
"But the destructive power is definitely Special Grade level. Hmm, almost on par with me."
She flashed a malicious smile.
"Don't know if it's friend or foe, but let me be clear: I won't intervene."
"Master Tengen's barrier should be able to block it, but given the current situation, can he/she even make a move?"
"So, either tell those old fogeys to keep their 'dogs' on a short leash and not invite trouble."
"Or pray hard that whatever this is isn't against us."
With that, Yuki Tsukumo chuckled, twisted the throttle, and vanished into the night at high speed.
"Let's go!"
Hearing Yuki's words, the leader's face turned grim, and he hurriedly led his group away.
"Hurry, report back to headquarters immediately!"
He didn't doubt her words for a second.
No one would question the judgment of the only Special Grade Sorcerer in the Association. Although she was unreliable most of the time, she wouldn't spout nonsense during a major event.
"An unknown Special Grade?"
"Why did it appear at this specific, critical time? Damn it!"
It was hard not to suspect it was targeting Master Tengen and the merger that happened every five hundred years.
The judgment of a Grade 1 Sorcerer combined with that of a Special Grade was enough to escalate the situation.
"Next news: A chemical plant explosion occurred somewhere in Tokyo tonight. No casualties were reported..."
"Seriously? No other news?"
Unaware that his first "test drive" had made the Sorcerer Association extremely tense, Kenmei Isayama was complaining about the repetitive news. The images on the TV screen were his "masterpiece."
The footage shown to the public was only the periphery where the damage was minor; the main battlefield wasn't shown.
Otherwise, how would the Japanese government explain a sudden 200-meter crater? Leaving aside the headache for the spokesperson, public panic would be the biggest issue.
After all, the "Little Boy" dropped by the Americans (15,000 tons of TNT) only created a 60-meter crater on Japanese soil. Even a modern US W87 tactical nuke creates a crater 200 meters wide and 60 meters deep.
But those were nuclear bombs. Kenmei Isayama hadn't just shocked modern technology; he had rung alarm bells for the Sorcerer Association and the Japanese authorities.
An unknown entity of uncertain allegiance dared to blow a huge hole in a deserted industrial park today. Would they blow a hole in a busy city center, the Association headquarters, or government offices tomorrow?
[Absorbed Cursed Energy. Points +37,000]
This was Kenmei's reward for exorcising the cyclops Cursed Spirit. The cost was Uncle Blue's [Durability: 1290/189000] dropping from 1290 to 1180.
A total loss of 110 durability points. Honestly, it hurt a bit.
Watching the big blue "can" sweeping the floor, Kenmei couldn't help but think.
Uncle Blue had two attack modes. One was the simpler [Free Attack] (only firing and slashing), and the other was [Mind Sync].
[Mind Sync] meant Kenmei's body and mind temporarily dissolved into the Scarab Occult Terminator via the [Rubric Spell], directly controlling the Rubric Marine with his will.
Since there was already a (dormant) soul of the former host inside the armor, introducing a second soul caused significant distortion and impact on the Rubric spell inscribed within.
Thus, [Mind Sync] consumed durability twice as fast as [Free Attack].
When using [Mind Sync], attacks and spells consumed none of Kenmei's own Mana; the only cost was Uncle Blue's durability.
Kenmei didn't know the psychic level of this Rubric Marine, but it was incredibly high—beyond his comprehension.
Inside it, Kenmei felt only one thing:
I feel incredibly free in this world.
"Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one!"
The cause of the 200-meter crater was Kenmei using that body to cast the simplest telekinetic spell:
Crush.
The psyker traps the enemy in suffocating and crushing force, grinding them to dust.
Amplified by the [Scarab Occult Terminator], it created a natural disaster.
Kenmei clicked the remote, and a program caught his eye.
The title was "Non-prosecution and Recidivism."
A murderer was not prosecuted due to a history of mental illness, but after being released, he committed murder again.