Before returning to the villa, Sylvia did as she had said and reported the incident to the Hero Association, informing them of everything that had happened.
Coincidentally, the Hero Association had just received the news as well. They had nearly issued an Emergency Evacuation Notice, and the situation had even been classified as a serious Demon-level disaster.
However, after Sylvia reported what had happened, the Hero Association wasn't particularly surprised. Instead, they had the helpless expression of people who had already anticipated something like this.
According to Sitch, this was what the people at the Hero Association had been thinking:
"After Tatsumaki-san flew off in such a rage, somehow, we could already predict that something like this would happen."
In other words, the Hero Association had long been aware of Tatsumaki's reckless behavior.
There was nothing they could do about it. Tatsumaki's power was simply too overwhelming.
Just as Sylvia had predicted, Tatsumaki was only one step away from the Second Rank. Among Third Rank individuals, unless someone possessed a specialized means of countering her, like Fang Li or Sylvia, there was essentially no possibility of defeating this terrifying Level 5 Esper in a one-on-one battle.
Precisely because she possessed such terrifying power, Fubuki had spent years living in her elder sister's shadow. The Hero Association regarded Tatsumaki as its ultimate weapon and essentially entrusted Dragon-level disasters to her. Even Bang and Sweet Mask displayed a certain degree of respect whenever Tatsumaki was mentioned.
For someone of Tatsumaki's caliber, it was impossible for a serious battle to leave the surrounding area completely unscathed. In the past, Tatsumaki's battles had likewise caused varying degrees of destruction. Sometimes, she had even pulled meteorites down from outer space. The destruction caused by such actions was simply unimaginable.
According to the Hero Association's calculations, Tatsumaki and Sylvia's fierce battle had completely flattened an area of A-City several kilometers in diameter, turning it into ruins. The resulting losses exceeded several trillion.
If not for Sylvia joining the Hero Association and causing its fundraising income to increase by an enormous amount, such losses would probably have given many of the Association's leaders severe headaches and earned them a furious dressing-down from their major investors.
After all, these weren't losses caused by a disaster, they had been caused by an internal fight between members of the Hero Association. If news of this became public, the Hero Association would probably become the target of A-City's residents' outrage.
Therefore, the Hero Association could only treat the incident as a disaster and handle it accordingly.
As for Sylvia and Tatsumaki, one was a consultant to the Hero Association while the other was the Association's ultimate weapon. The Hero Association couldn't afford to offend either of them.
In the end, it could only silently bear the consequences.
Fortunately, everyone in the surrounding area had already fled before the battle began. Otherwise, the situation would have been much more difficult to resolve.
Under these circumstances, Fang Li and Sylvia returned to the villa.
As soon as they arrived, Fang Li immediately began voicing his objections. "I have to ask. Are you really planning to involve yourself in those sisters' affairs all the way to the end?"
His voice was filled with unmistakable reluctance. It was obvious just how much Fang Li disliked the Tatsumaki-Fubuki sisters.
"Don't tell me it's because you simply can't bring yourself to leave them alone." Fang Li seemed to have already seen through Sylvia's thoughts and sighed. "Honestly, anyone with even the best temperament would get fed up with those two after watching them behave like that."
Wasn't that the truth?
If one encountered injustice, drawing one's sword to help might seem perfectly natural, but it was still better to consider who the person involved was.
Fang Li wasn't someone who never extended a helping hand, but he chose carefully whom he helped.
Take Sweet Mask, for example. Even if something happened to that man right in front of Fang Li, unless there was a compelling reason to intervene, Fang Li would simply watch from the sidelines. That obsessive lunatic would only have himself to blame if something happened to him. Fang Li was already being generous by not kicking him while he was down, so why would he go out of his way to help?
He might as well spend that time working on his Main Quest.
Tatsumaki and Fubuki belonged to much the same category. The reason their relationship had become so terrible was entirely their own doing. One possessed an extremely distorted desire to protect, while the other possessed an almost self-destructive rebelliousness rooted in inferiority.
As a result, the sisters had become unable to get along, but this was ultimately a family matter. Compared with the girls Fang Li had encountered in the past, many of whom had suffered genuinely tragic circumstances, the conflict between these two sisters was on a completely different scale.
Put bluntly, it was simply a particularly serious quarrel. And Fang Li wasn't some mediator. Was there really any need for him to get involved?
Of course, the scale of the problem was only secondary. The most important thing was that the sisters' relationship had become like this because their personalities simply didn't mesh. Just like Sweet Mask's situation, they had essentially brought it upon themselves.
If that was the case, then even if an outsider couldn't stand watching it, interfering wasn't necessarily appropriate.
"I understand what you're trying to say," Sylvia gave an awkward little laugh. "I never intended to interfere in the relationship between those sisters. I merely acted according to the circumstances."
Regardless of whatever grievances existed between Tatsumaki and Fubuki, Tatsumaki had been trying to ignore Fubuki's wishes and forcibly take her away.
"So, could I really just stand by and do nothing?" Sylvia smiled faintly. "I couldn't exactly watch Fubuki get dragged away by Tatsumaki against her will."
After all, Sylvia and Fubuki had already developed a friendship. All things considered, Sylvia couldn't simply stand by.
"If it were you, you would have done the same thing, wouldn't you?" Sylvia stared directly at Fang Li. There was a faint smile in her purple eyes. "Because you're not the type of person who would stand by while someone close to you was being hurt either."
Fang Li immediately fell silent. After a moment, he spoke in an irritated tone. "So, you're planning to keep involving yourself in this troublesome mess?"
Hearing this, Sylvia shook her head. "The matter between those sisters is, just as you said, something outsiders shouldn't interfere with." Sylvia spoke lightly. "However, even if it's a private matter, it can only be resolved when both sides are on equal footing. All I want to do is give Fubuki a chance to stand on equal footing with her."
Otherwise, no matter what Fubuki wanted to say, as long as she remained weaker than Tatsumaki, she would ultimately be forced to submit to Tatsumaki's overwhelming strength and would never be able to properly express her thoughts to her elder sister.
Sylvia had no intention of interfering in the sisters' relationship; she simply couldn't stand by and watch Fubuki be treated unfairly.
"After all, Fubuki is my friend," Sylvia smiled as she said this.
Just as always, her broad-minded compassion was almost dazzling.
"Haah..." Fang Li could only sigh. "Fine. If it's something you want to do, then just do whatever you want."
After all, no matter what happened, Fang Li would bear the consequences for Sylvia.
Only, it was obvious that this matter was far from over.
(End Of This Chapter)
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