My inability to properly absorb mana was the root of my problem, preventing me from wielding true power.
My limitation was that I couldn't even take tests properly before attempting anything else.
But now I was completely different.
With a body similar to a Mysterious Person, I could easily absorb unrefined mana rather than ordinary mana. Things that were certainly impossible when I was a normal human had become simple accomplishments for me now.
Moreover, thanks to my prosthetic arm that amplified mana, my abilities had been dramatically enhanced regardless of whether the mana was refined or unrefined.
Crackle-zzzzzap.
The lightning radiating from my palm was enough to silence the screaming male Mysterious Person.
Even while thinking that I shouldn't involve others, my mind warned that I needed to deal with this Mysterious Person first, so I drew upon more power.
"Damn... you...!"
An uncomfortable voice scratched at his throat.
At the end, his hand extended through the lightning and grabbed my chin firmly.
Startled, I cut off my ability and gripped the arm that was holding my lower jaw.
The unpleasant smell of burning skin stung my nose, along with the charred scent of burning clothes.
"Die!"
The Mysterious Person held me tightly and kicked out with his foot.
As he stepped forward, my body was pushed backward. My stumbling feet tangled, and I fell backward, the impact jolting through my body.
"Kuhk!"
The Mysterious Person's right fist headed straight for my face.
The heroes nearby, who had hesitated momentarily, threw themselves forward to protect me, but the fist was closer.
During combat training classes, we were taught to watch the opponent's fist until the end. But that only applies when you can dodge the punch. Now that I was lying on the ground, such a thing was impossible, so I squeezed my eyes shut.
I clenched my teeth and prepared myself, but the punch never came.
Wondering what happened, I narrowly opened my eyes to see something dripping onto my blazer.
The Mysterious Person's arm had been severed. He writhed in agony, rolling around, and the Mysterious Person who had been on top of me was now far away.
"...Kanna, are you okay?!"
I had thought he was still fighting the Mysterious Person he'd been dealing with earlier, but he had rushed over to help me.
I soothed my startled heart and nodded.
"Y-yes. I'm fine."
The Mysterious Person with the severed hand rolled on the ground briefly before immediately using his intact hand to push himself up and spin through the air.
Dodging past the heroes who had rushed to tackle him, the Mysterious Person swung his fist at a hero standing a short distance away.
With his right hand—the one that had been severed just moments ago.
"Looks like we need to deal with that one first."
Though other heroes were responding diligently, Yoon Ha-min seemed to think that wasn't enough as he gripped his sword again.
"W-wait, what about that Mysterious Person?"
I simply referred to them all as Mysterious Persons, so they were all just "Mysterious Person" to me.
I vaguely knew their names, but never spoke them aloud.
Yoon Ha-min glanced back briefly before smiling.
"It's fine. They're all heroes, after all."
He was saying there were people who could handle it better than him.
The number of monsters was similar to before, but the Mysterious Persons had increased to three.
That fact was causing chaos within the Wall.
Yoon Ha-min held his sword and marked points in the air.
The points he carved in empty space symbolized stars.
After several were marked, they connected to form a constellation, and the lines between them became a cutting edge.
His ability made me think repeatedly that he was no less impressive than the other heroes, and it momentarily captivated my attention.
The most urgent crisis had been averted.
But the problem was me.
I had increased my output so much that the right sleeve of my shirt and blazer had completely burned away. Even the glove that had looked like a human hand was gone.
The dark metal of my hidden prosthetic arm was now exposed.
I could feel glances sliding over it, as if expecting to hear a mechanical click.
This wasn't what I wanted to reveal.
I unconsciously looked around.
I worried whether someone who had been monitoring me might be troubled by this.
If I was worried, I could have avoided doing this, but I reminded myself that wasn't an option.
What I just did was definitely necessary to defend against the attack. I firmly believed the people around me would testify to that.
While I hesitated, a Mysterious Person approached with large strides.
Until just now, they had been under simultaneous attack from nearly twenty heroes, but ignoring all that to approach me was utterly bewildering.
The original Mysterious Person.
The one who had tormented me.
"—You, I clearly told you to live a crushed life, but it seems you don't understand your place?"
A pale white hand struck my left shoulder.
As I was shoved back, I attacked her right arm with my right hand.
A flash of light erupted, and a beam-like straight line attacked the Mysterious Person's body, but she acted unaffected and struck my temple with her left hand.
"Kugh!"
"Student!!"
As I tumbled to the ground, heroes who had been rushing to capture the other Mysterious Persons changed their target and swung their swords.
Even in this situation, the Mysterious Person fought calmly, alternating between her right and left hands.
I knew she was ambidextrous, but I didn't know she could fight this skillfully, which was extremely troubling.
Raising my head with difficulty through my dizzy vision, I turned my gaze toward the Mysterious Person.
No matter how mysterious they were, they were still human.
Just transcendent humans who could withstand unrefined mana.
There weren't any particular weaknesses. It just required more force than killing an ordinary person.
"The monsters are running low, maybe I should head back..."
The Mysterious Person spoke leisurely as if contemplating returning home. It seemed strange that she could calmly destroy heroes' weapons and attack while speaking so casually.
"But you're really annoying."
Those red eyes turned toward me.
"I told you to stay put, but seeing you act out more, is it reverse psychology?"
The heroes didn't feel her words were worth responding to and simply continued their attacks, but hearing that voice up close made me feel chilled.
The number of dying heroes was increasing.
Heroes who lost their weapons or were severely injured were also leaving their positions.
Even so, heroes who had been defending the opposite side of the Wall came to reinforce, and the tide was turning.
Despite being surrounded, the Mysterious Person seemed unaware of it, and her attacks were increasingly directed at me.
I wanted to shout at her.
Just die already.
How could I kill that monster?
How could I escape this hellish life?
The heroes who had been fighting this Mysterious Person and those near me all converged at once.
For a moment, it felt like the Mysterious Person's figure was obscured by the crowd.
But before she completely disappeared, something purple bloomed from her hand.
"Wait...! Everyone run away!"
"Bloom—"
Despite my desperate shout, the heroes had already charged in, and a massive ball of mana rose from the Mysterious Person's hand.
What she produced wasn't a totem or a sealed monster.
She had simply gathered unrefined mana and caused an explosion.
The problem was that people without resistance to unrefined mana would find even that fatal.
Knowing the danger, I stretched out my hand.
Kwaaaa—
Instantly, the flow of mana around us became turbulent.
Refined and unrefined mana collided countless times, causing nausea in people.
Thankfully, they didn't die.
It was fortunate that I could limit the effect to just nausea.
The problem was that most people lost consciousness and collapsed because of it.
Thud, thud.
Heroes fell defenseless around us.
The radius wasn't very wide, so only the heroes who had gathered to stop this Mysterious Person lay on the ground.
I stood shakily among the unconscious people.
This can't be happening...
"Until the end, until the end, until the end you interfere! Hah, I left you alone thinking it would be fun to watch a powerless girl struggle!"
I had spread mana like a magnetic field to suppress the explosion's output as much as possible.
Thanks to that, people could get away with just temporarily losing consciousness.
The problem was me.
Clank, click—my fixed prosthetic arm was forcibly torn off.
It hurt enough to make tears well up, but I couldn't cry out in pain because of the sensation that followed.
Metal limbs fell off arbitrarily, and I stood up on my own feet.
"...Ah."
"Die, I don't even want to look at someone like you anymore."
The Mysterious Person pronounced my sentence.
Instinctively, I raised my hand.
Not the dark metal, but pale white flesh that spewed blood and became distorted.
"Ugh, aaaaaaah!"
A normal person's hand couldn't possibly have good functions like pain blocking.
I could see the unconscious heroes. My body curled up.
"Ah, aah!"
"Kanna...!"
I heard Yoon Ha-min's voice.
I heard murmuring around me.
Feeling that I couldn't breathe properly from the sudden pain, I turned my head.
A monster controlled by the Mysterious Person flew down from above, casting a shadow.
Despite this, my gaze turned toward Yoon Ha-min running toward me.
It hurts, I don't want to die.
I thought I was doing well, but was I completely wrong?
Even if I said this was all for final happiness, it would sound insane.
Clutching my right hand, with my head pressed to the ground, I stared at him quietly.
"Ugh, Y-Yoon Ha-min..."
I squeezed my eyes shut. I bit down on my molars and writhed to try to bear the pain, but it seemed impossible to properly regain my senses.
I already have a body like a Mysterious Person.
Now that I've revealed it to everyone, I had nothing to say.
Even if I didn't die by the Mysterious Person's hand, I would surely die by human hands.
So, I gave him one last hint.
"B-become a being like the stars."
He would be able to find peace at last.
He would be able to protect those around him.
I told him not to use his ability as he was doing now.
I could only hope he would understand.
Then something fell onto my head.