I Became the Cute One in the Troubleshooter Squad-Chapter 104: The Enigma Auction Showdown (5)

The Liberation Army of Non-Human Races is structured around its high-ranking officers known as the Septenary Guard.

For example, under Akashmir of Red Thunder, there exists the Annihilation Corps, a unit composed entirely of Dark Elves specialized solely in offensive magic.

Similarly, under Urakan of the Storm, there is the Beast Corps, consisting of Werewolves and other beastkin who instinctively follow the strong.

Among the six corps organized under the Septenary Guard, there was always debate in the original story about which was the strongest.

Some corps had their combat strength concentrated entirely in their commander, while others had a relatively weak leader but were composed of exceptionally formidable members.

Because of this, their strengths and weaknesses formed a balanced power dynamic, preventing any one group from completely dominating the others.

However, if the question was which corps was the most troublesome, the answer was always unanimous.

The name of that corps? The Undead Corps, led by the Elder Lich, Morte of Pestilence.

‘A literal army of walking corpses... mostly made up of undead and necromancers.’

It was slightly different from the vampires they had encountered before.

To be precise, vampiric blood magic seemed like an offshoot of necromancy—a deviation rather than a separate discipline.

If vampires were those who feared death so much that they obsessed over eternal life, then necromancers were those who outright rejected death, forcing themselves into an unnatural limbo between life and death.

Compared to Drakel, who was obsessed with youth to the point of risking the Tesseract, Morte of Pestilence was quite literally a walking pile ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) of bones, making the difference between them unmistakable.

“This is how it is, huh? Well, no helping it! We’ll just kill everyone here and flood the entire hotel with Rage Gas, Verita!”

“A reckless plan, but not a bad one. Vita, unni.”

Standing before the wounded Tamamo and Alice were two girls—Vita, with her fiery red hair, and Verita, with her deep blue hair.

At most, they looked like middle schoolers in terms of age. But the murderous intent in their expressions was chillingly real.

And the words they exchanged were no bluff.

The twin sisters were not only Morte’s personal royal guard, but also his most powerful creations—high-tier undead.

On the surface, they might look like beautiful young girls.

But beneath that skin, they were nothing more than rotting flesh—perfect slaughter dolls crafted for destruction.

‘This is bad. Vita and Verita might not be on the level of the Septenary Guard, but individually, each one of them is as strong as Tamamo at full power.

‘And right now, Tamamo can barely stand, while Alice is injured—her shoulders and forearms slashed deep, and she doesn’t even have her twin swords.

‘Meanwhile, the Vita sisters haven’t even broken a sweat. They’re completely fresh.’

Even if they were fighting at full strength, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed.

But in this condition, with such a huge gap in stamina and readiness, the outcome was clear.

‘And if these two are here... that means Morte of Pestilence is somewhere in this hotel too.’

Maybe Raven and Victor, who hadn’t reported back yet, were fighting Morte right now?

It was impossible to be certain, but the odds were high.

Which meant... there was no chance of backup anytime soon.

Morte was far beyond the likes of Akashmir or Urakan—his strength was on a completely different level.

That left only one option: I had to help Alice myself!

I had just made up my mind to move when—

A cold, rational voice inside my head stopped me in my tracks.

‘Can I even win? Sure, I’ve gotten much stronger thanks to the Rift, but....’

Vita and Verita weren’t just strong because they were undead.

Vita was a Death Knight—an entity with limitless stamina, overwhelming physical prowess, and masterful swordsmanship.Verita was a High Lich—a necromancer who could endlessly replenish her mana and wield devastating corpse magic.Even fighting just one of them was risky.

Against both at once?

They would naturally cover each other’s weaknesses, and I had no path to victory.

Honestly, the fact that Tamamo had even managed to stall them for this long inside the auction hall without being affected by the gas was impressive.

So what if I transformed into my adult form, like I did against Akashmir?

As an adult, my raw power was enough to physically overpower an offensive-type Septenary Guard in a contest of strength.

Compared to that, Vita and Verita—mere creations of a Septenary Guard—should be easy enough to handle.

‘...No. Won’t work. I brought the Tesseract with me earlier, but I don’t have enough energy to pull it off.’

The problem wasn’t just transforming—it was also maintaining the transformation.

And if I had to compare, the initial transformation consumed far more energy than sustaining it.

Even if I drained the Tesseract’s energy completely, turning into an adult form was impossible.

Even if I somehow forced the transformation, it would probably collapse instantly or overload the Tesseract, breaking it.

So this was it.

Nothing worked.

No way to fight. No backup coming.

This was a dead-end scenario.

‘Wait... but they’re undead. If I can target their weakness...!’

At that moment—

A bolt of inspiration struck my mind like lightning.

A single, desperate idea that just might be my only way out of this.

Alice stood before the Vita sisters and thought to herself.

—If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have brought my weapons from the room.

"Tamamo, those two... they're strong, right?"

She knew Tamamo's skills better than anyone.

Physically, she was just average, especially when compared to Alice.

But when it came to magic, she was top-tier.

And yet, even Tamamo was covered in wounds.

That alone proved that these two were the real deal.

"Nyaa-haha, I think I could barely manage against one of them..."

"But there are two of them..."

"I see. That bad, huh? Shouldn't have asked."

Honestly, it would’ve been better not knowing.

If these two were only slightly weaker than Tamamo,

and Tamamo was already injured,

then that meant they were overwhelmingly outmatched.

Running away isn't an option.

If they turned their backs, the enemy would catch up instantly.

And worse—Sabrina and Yuria might also be put in danger.

Then the only thing I can do here is...

Alice took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts.

There was no chance of winning.

Even Tamamo, who she secretly held some inferiority toward, couldn't handle them.

So how could Alice, unarmed and wounded, possibly stand a chance?

But that didn't mean she could run away.

Because the people she cared about—more than family—were all here.

Jin, Yuria, David, Reina, Sabrina...

She didn't want to lose any of them.

Gently, Alice lowered Tamamo to the ground.

Then, facing the Vita sisters, she shouted without even turning back.

"SABRINA! YURIA! TAKE EVERYONE AND RUN! I'LL HOLD THEM OFF!"

A fiery pink determination blazed within her.

It wasn’t recklessness.

It wasn’t despair.

It was the will to protect something precious—even at the cost of herself.

Like a flame that never wavered even in the fiercest storm.

"Nyaa-haha! So this is a time-buying strategy?"

Tamamo chuckled.

If Alice was standing strong, then there was no way she, the Student Council President, would just sit there.

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Tamamo forced herself up,

her trembling body radiating mana once more.

No matter how overwhelmingly strong the Vita sisters were,

they wouldn’t back down.

"Kuhaha! If Alice-chan is fighting so hard, how could I, an adult, be the first to collapse?!"

"...I wanna run away. I wanna run away. I wanna run away...."

"If they don’t fall no matter how much we hit them... then we just keep hitting them until they do!"

Even the fixers, who had been helplessly pushed back by the undead army,

found themselves revitalized by Alice's burning determination.

They could have run away—it was just a contract job.

But instead, they stood their ground at the exit, fighting desperately to keep the undead soldiers from advancing.

There were still civilians who hadn’t escaped yet.

And no fixer would abandon people to their deaths.

Perhaps this was the true responsibility of being a fixer.

"Hmph. A dying mage and a worthless brat with no mana think they can stop us?"

"Pathetic. Even beasts know when they're outmatched. You're dumber than animals."

"Khi-hi-hi! If we kill you and take your corpses to Lord Morte, he’ll be pleased!"

The Vita sisters stood unshaken,

confident that victory was already decided.

After all—

they had already calculated the difference in power.

Tamamo and Alice were practically dead already.

No matter how much they struggled, they couldn’t turn the tide.

At best, they could stall for a few minutes.

But that was just delaying the inevitable.

Nothing would change.

It was nothing more than a meaningless sacrifice.

"Sis. Let’s get our weapons."

"Yeah! Spata Ossium!"

Vita, the lively red-haired sister, chanted a spell.

Instantly, a sharp, bone-crafted sword materialized in midair.

Verita, the stoic blue-haired sister, grabbed it—

then rushed toward Alice at terrifying speed.

Too fast.

Alice’s body would be split in half before she could react.

"Ugh! Dodge—!"

"Defe—!"

Before Tamamo could even finish casting,

Verita had already closed the distance, her sword swinging down—

And at that moment—

A blinding flurry of white arrows rained down on Verita.

‘Tch. Useless resistance.’

Verita thought it was just another weak attack and prepared to take it head-on.

But the moment she felt the aura emanating from the arrows—

Her instincts screamed.

She kicked off the ground, retreating in an instant.

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The arrows missed and buried themselves into the floor.

But the moment Tamamo and Vita saw them,

they immediately widened their eyes in shock.

"This is... holy magic...?!"

"That’s impossible! Lord Morte said all traces of holy power had vanished from this world!"

Every gaze naturally turned toward the source of the attack.

And there, standing at the end of the hall—

A young girl, with long, snow-white hair, her cat-like ears twitching,

and a delicate, fluffy white tail swaying gently behind her.

Yuria.