When Clara and Sista arrived at the scene, the brief battle had already ended.
The ground was scorched black, and the Azure Cavalier, covered in blood, leaned weakly against a tree stump. The accompanying Raven drone had been destroyed, his exoskeleton was badly damaged, and the armor bore bite marks as if gnawed by some massive beast. Were those teeth serrated?
Was it a Moon Rabbit?
No, the Moon Rabbit’s tiny mouth shouldn’t be able to do that.
Sista stepped forward, removed the Azure Cavalier’s exoskeleton, and checked his injuries, muttering as she worked.
“We have to get him to the infirmary as soon as possible.
“No, there’s no need for that anymore, Sista.”
The Azure Cavalier had already stopped breathing.
They knew he wasn’t a match for Ps·ycho, but they hadn’t expected he wouldn’t even last until help arrived.
…How could this be?
Was he ambushed before he finished suiting up, his wounds too severe for him to fight back?
“Go inform Miss Damo. Have the others gather at the finish line. This is no time for some variety show…
The “Raven” drone followed behind them, so Ogata Damo should already be aware.
Clara’s expression was grave; she couldn’t smile, and now was hardly the time to put on a cheerful face for the camera.
The Fourth Calamity had taken it this far—now it was their turn to strike back.
“Nix, do you have any clues about the culprit?”
[Hmm, judging from his wounds, the culprit might not be Ps·ycho.]
Oh? Was it that accomplice hiding among the staff?
Clara surveyed the bloody crime scene.
The ground was scorched and chaotic—during the fight, the Azure Cavalier had unleashed a powerful current, radiating out from his position and creating this swath of burnt earth.
If the culprit wasn’t Ps·ycho, then indeed, there was no reason to target him specifically.
The Test of Courage event required the help of resort staff, and using their position to ambush the lone Azure Cavalier made sense.
But now, the culprit had long since vanished.
“Miss Clara.”
Sista made a quiet suggestion.
“His helmet is intact. We can go to the hangar and ask Miss Anya to pull the battle footage from his exoskeleton. Maybe we’ll see what happened to Second Brother before he died…”
That made sense. Rather than guessing blindly, it was better to watch the footage. The drone should have transmitted something before it was destroyed.
“Where is Miss Anya now?” Clara asked.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her this evening. Maybe after repairing the exoskeleton this afternoon, she returned to her room to rest.”
“Hmm, let’s hope so…”
Thinking of the mechanic Anya, Clara couldn’t help but recall the footage BB-0027 had shown her.
So many mysteries remained unsolved, yet the Fourth Calamity had already made their move. The time left for them…
…was running out.
“Ugh, isn’t the situation getting kind of dire?”
Lucia, cradling the Moon Rabbit Combat Unit, asked, “Now that it’s come to this, we can’t keep the livestream going, can we?”
“That’s not the issue anymore.”
Clara crossed her arms and said, “I’ll be frank: the Fourth Calamity’s goal is to eliminate the Sigma Series and me in this resort. The death of the Azure Cavalier is only the beginning.”
Now it really had become a Snowstorm Villa murder mystery.
“Hah, well, we’re all on their list, after all.”
Verdant Requiem rested his chin on his hand, showing no tension at all. He didn’t seem particularly upset by the Azure Cavalier’s death.
And it wasn’t just him—even Sista’s expression showed no sadness.
Back at the Expo Center, it was the same: neither the deaths of other heroes nor the prospect of his own death seemed to bother Sista. He was strangely indifferent, as if it were all trivial.
That indifference…
…
Was it the result of artificial cognition being instilled into them?
Or was it a different perspective on “death”?
“Ugh, this resort is really dangerous, huh?”
Lucia glanced up at the dome and sighed, “But with the solar storm raging, there’s no way we can return to Central City.”
She seemed uneasy, so Clara tried to reassure her. “But looking at it another way, the enemy can’t leave either! Sure, they’re in the dark and we’re exposed, which is tough, but as long as we find them, we still outnumber them!”
She raised her voice, but it lacked conviction—anyone could hear the uncertainty.
In the end, Clara just sighed, “Sigh, let’s sort through the clues first.”
“First, let’s look at the footage from the ‘Raven’ before it was destroyed.”
Ogata Damo turned the director’s laptop so everyone could see.
The drone had been following behind the Azure Cavalier, filming.
From a high angle, it captured the Azure Cavalier veering off the planned route and running deep into the rainforest. Then, the drone was shot down before him.
Clearly, the culprit had come prepared and didn’t want to leave any evidence.
Ogata Damo replayed the route. The Azure Cavalier seemed to be tracking something, but there was nothing visible ahead of him.
“Haunted? Can any of you tell what he was chasing?”
Clara asked, but Lucia shook her head.
“No idea. There’s nothing on the screen.”
If it was something invisible, Clara had only one answer in mind.
“Could it be Ps·ycho? What did the Azure Cavalier use to follow them?”
It wasn’t scent—Clara hadn’t noticed anything odd when she’d arrived.
“It must have been electromagnetic waves,
#
…..
Sista mumbled quietly, leaving Clara confused.
“Electromagnetic waves?”
To this, Verdant Requiem explained, “Our Second Brother’s ability is discharge—he can turn himself into a human radar. Even if he can’t see them, he can lock onto the enemy through electromagnetic waves…”
“Wait, you’re all espers?”
Artificial espers?
As expected of the World Tree Technology’s assembly line—these artificial people were high spec!
Just how many secrets were they still hiding?
“Heh, you could say that~”
Verdant Requiem shrugged self-deprecatingly.
“Though we have abilities, they’re weak. Compared to those who fight crime using their powers, ours are nothing…”
As he spoke, Verdant Requiem split into two identical selves and introduced, “My ability is projection, the boss’s is brute strength, Fourth Brother’s is reducing weight—we all need the exoskeletons to use our powers.”
No wonder he always called himself a ninja.
And the Azure Cavalier was a human radar?
Clara thought for a moment and asked, “So, when we were cornering Ps·ycho in the air-raid shelter before, was he already able to pinpoint their location?”
“The radar only tells us someone’s there—it can’t tell friend from foe! It wasn’t useful in the shelter, and only you, Clara, can force that woman to show herself.”
Verdant Requiem scooted over to Lucia, reaching out to poke the Moon Rabbit Combat Unit, only for Clara (as the Moon Rabbit) to nearly bite off his finger.
“Whoa, that was close!”
Clara picked up the Moon Rabbit and set it on the table, smoothing its fur, and announced to everyone,
“Everyone, this Moon Rabbit will be the key to our counterattack.”
Something is fishy about this