-1516- Human Armored Beetles?

Outskirts, Warehouse Street.

This was the outermost area of Vebel, a place only one step away from the sky.

There were no residences here, and certainly no people living in the area—only one square-shaped, massive warehouse after another, evenly spaced apart.

The place was utilized as Warehouse Street, where various resources needed by the citizens of the floating city were stored. For convenience in transportation, there was even an airship landing area nearby. It was usually a place left unnoticed.

However, at this very moment, a young man appeared here.

"This should be the place, right?"

Rozen surveyed his surroundings as he walked deeper into the area, discreetly using the ability of Heaven's Eye to scan the surroundings.

Due to Rozen's current usage of highly compressed high-grade mana, the technique that relied on releasing mana waves to survey the area achieved a substantial boost in effectiveness. If Rozen were to exert himself fully, enhancing his brain domain with the Virtual Aether technique to process all the feedback information, monitoring everything within a few hundred kilometers would be effortless.

However, because the mana waves were formed by compressed high-grade mana, the power was overwhelming. If this ability were used, even the weakest of wizards would notice it. Thus, it wasn't suitable for covert surveillance and exploration.

Considering that it could easily cause chaos or alarm the enemy, Rozen rarely used this technique. Even when he did, he controlled its range, refraining from using it at full capacity.

Right now, Rozen limited the scope of Heaven's Eye to the Warehouse Street area, scanning the surroundings.

With one scan, Rozen immediately sensed something was amiss.

"That is…"

Rozen halted, frowning.

At that moment...

"Who's over there?"

A person emerged from the corner of Warehouse Street. Upon seeing Rozen, the individual immediately shone a flashlight toward him, casting a beam of light on Rozen's face.

But Rozen still managed to make out the person's appearance.

It was a middle-aged man wearing the black uniform of the City Police, holding a flashlight.

"City Police?"

Rozen raised an eyebrow.

The so-called City Police referred to regular officers responsible for maintaining order in the floating city.

If the Sky Wizards were specialists dealing with Armored Beetles outside the floating city, then the City Police were the experts maintaining order inside the city. Some of them were ordinary people, while others were retired or active Sky Wizards.

There were also City Police in Mistgun, so Rozen wasn't unfamiliar with them.

But this particular City Police officer…

"Are you a Sky Wizard? Judging from your uniform, you're not a Sky Wizard from Vebel. You must be one of the Sky Wizards from a floating academy city participating in the Sky Wizards Martial Arts Festival, correct?"

The City Police officer gradually approached Rozen, speaking in a flat tone.

"This area is full of warehouses, storing important resources of Vebel. Neither ordinary people nor Sky Wizards are allowed to enter without permission. Are you aware of that?"

The officer spoke coldly, as if wearing a mask.

To this...

"What should I do then? Beg for your mercy?"

Rozen watched the man with a smile as he spoke.

Seeing this, the officer's expression turned even colder.

"You're coming with me."

The middle-aged officer made the declaration, producing a pair of handcuffs and approaching Rozen.

However, just as he neared, Rozen spoke up.

"Where are you taking me? To see Zeth? Or to meet the one giving you orders? By the way, are you like Real? The one I'm referring to is a guy who devoured the flesh of Armored Beetles, gained jutsuryoku, and turned into a humanoid Armored Beetle."

The moment these words left Rozen's mouth, the officer froze.

Then...

"Bang!"

One of the middle-aged officer's hands exploded as if shattered.

In its place was a blade arm.

A grey arm with a sharp blade.

The arm swiftly raised up and slashed toward Rozen's head.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew as the blade arm struck Rozen's head, but it didn't split his skull. Instead, it felt like striking the hardest steel, causing the blade to bounce back.

"...!"

The officer's pupils contracted.

But immediately after, the light faded from his eyes, and his entire body began to squirm. In an instant, he transformed into a massive grey creature.

Its appearance was very similar to Real's, but unlike Real's eerie blue skin armor, this one had grey armor.

Then, a surge of jutsuryoku emanated from the creature's body.

The grey monster raised its blade arms, repeatedly slashing down at Rozen.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!..."

In a series of crisp clashes, the sharp blades struck Rozen's body, but not only did they fail to cut his skin, they couldn't even tear his clothes. The attacks only sent sparks flying, brilliant and blinding.

Rozen simply stood there, motionless, allowing the creature to strike him.

After a while…

"Are you tired?"

Rozen spoke with a smile.

"If you're tired, why don't you rest?"

"A permanent rest, that is."

As these words fell, Rozen's eyes ignited with fire.

"Boom!"

The grey monster standing before Rozen immediately exploded, consumed by endless flames, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.

Rozen retracted his smile and extinguished the flames in his eyes.

With that, Rozen continued walking toward the depths of Warehouse Street.

Before long, he reached an open space.

In this open space, the sounds of intense combat rang out.

"Damn it!"

A cursing voice sounded as a figure was sent flying backward.

It was a young man with blonde hair.

In front of the boy, three grey monsters, identical to the one Rozen had just encountered, chased after him, raising their blade arms to launch fierce attacks.

The young man quickly raised his magic sword, meeting the attacks of the three grey creatures.

In an instant, the magic sword and blade arms clashed frequently. Several figures intertwined, engaging in fierce offense and defense, causing a storm of blades and sparks to erupt, scattering shockwaves in all directions.

Rozen, who had been watching, instantly analyzed the situation.

"Those three grey creatures must be former humans like Real, who gained jutsuryoku after consuming the flesh of Armored Beetles and were transformed into humanoid Armored Beetles."

Compared to Real, their strength was clearly inferior. They couldn't use Collapse Force or magic, and could only fight with jutsuryoku.

As for the young man they were targeting, his combat skills were quite remarkable. His swordsmanship was almost at the level of Kanata.

This young man's power must be at least S-rank, or at the very least A-rank.

However, despite his strength, the youth was being driven to the brink by these creatures that were far weaker than Real.

Rozen quickly spotted the issue.

"His mana is being absorbed?"

Indeed.

During the battle, the youth's mana seemed to be continuously drained by the grey creatures. With each clash, a portion of his mana was absorbed.

As a result, the young man was gradually becoming exhausted.

But at this point, he noticed Rozen's arrival.

Instantly, a glimmer of hope flashed across the youth's face as he shouted out.

"I am under the protection of Her Holiness the Pope! Please lend me your aid!"

Hearing this, Rozen smiled faintly.

In his eyes, flames ignited once more.