Chapter 108
Chapter 108
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Descent of the Golden Carriers
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Ah, aah!]
Mitra suddenly cried out. She sprang up from her seat and turned around. She gazed at the sky over the Silphian Plateau, at the sky of the basin stretching beyond the golden gem.
It wasn't visible yet.
But Cheon-ho knew.
The power of the sun told him.
The power of the sun was resonating.
[Mother!]
Mitra shouted.
Lucille halted in midair.
The evil gods looked up at the sky without realizing it, and the angels and heroes preparing for battle on the ground looked at the same spot.
It was flying in.
The golden carrier.
That massive thing was slicing through the sky like a streak of light.
The evil gods had no idea what it was.
Makina didn't know, nor did the angels and heroes in the search party.
The three angels led by Aurael, the rock dwarves, Saschiell, and the animal-type combat angels knew about the carrier.
But precisely because of that, their moment of elation was brief.
Great things were surely packed inside, but a single one of those couldn't reverse the tide of battle.
“Hero?”
Lucille blinked.
She had unwittingly phrased it as a question because of Cheon-ho's expression.
Cheon-ho was smiling.
He let out a hearty, refreshing laugh.
Why? How?
Lucille turned back to the sky. Her eyes widened, and she cried out almost simultaneously with Eizel.
“One more?!”
“Another one's coming!”
No, it was more than that.
Far beyond just "one more."
[My goodness, Mother.]
Mitra said without thinking. She had no choice but to.
The moment the first carrier reached Cheon-ho.
The ninth carrier streaked across the sky.
* * *
Kablakasa was a mid-layer evil god.
Like most mid-layer evil gods, her origins differed from those in the deep layer.
Of course, that didn't make her free from the Great Labyrinth's laws. Defying the Demon God's will was impossible.
Most mid-layer evil gods yearned to become deep-layer evil gods, driven by an instinctive craving for ascension.
Kablakasa was no exception. She was already bound to the Great Labyrinth. Though mid-layer evil gods lived like independent warlords, true freedom was an illusion.
Mid-layer evil gods built their power in diverse ways.
Some, like Bergaf, merged with labyrinth world entities. Others, like Soul Eater, corrupted and enslaved powerful souls.
Kablakasa despised both paths.
Merging with otherworldly beings meant forsaking one's true self. Regardless of who dominated the consciousness, the result was no longer Kablakasa.
Soul Eater's method was mere parasitism. Kablakasa refused to debase her existence like that.
Thus, she followed the traditional path.
She honed herself through rigorous training and brutal combat. She amassed powerful armaments to grow stronger.
Her aim at the Primordial Forge was simple and clear.
To secure high-quality gear—not just for herself, but to arm her entire army.
Preparations were ample.
Kablakasa herself, five lesser evil gods under her command, and a monster legion of three thousand strong.
The plan unfolded flawlessly. The Primordial Forge's stringent entry conditions were met, and its entrance finally revealed itself.
Victory seemed assured.
The heroes and angels numbered barely two dozen.
Their force was 150 times larger.
Above all, Kablakasa and her five evil gods were there. They could crush 5th-rank combat angels with ease.
Makina posed no threat. The martial arts suppression condition had been a nuisance, but in true combat—not a duel—Kablakasa far outmatched her.
The one who felled Makina with swordsmanship.
He was a concern, a formidable foe. But he was spent. After three hours of sparring with Makina, he couldn't muster even a fraction of his usual prowess.
The odds were overwhelmingly in their favor.
All victory conditions were met.
Yet Kablakasa unwittingly halted her charge. She lowered her prized spear and stared blankly at the sky.
Her five lesser evil gods did the same. The charging monsters paused moments later, all gazing upward.
Nine streaks tearing across the sky.
Those gleaming golden objects were descending.
* * *
Nine of them.
Not one, but nine.
They didn't arrive simultaneously. They appeared sequentially in the air, one after another, as if chasing the leader.
Rusilia glanced back and forth between the sky, ground, and sides countless times. Eizel, who had been hopping with joy, now wore a dazed expression.
But Silikiel and the other angels—the newcomers who had just joined—had different looks.
They were dazed too, but Eizel's daze hid uncontainable ecstasy.
So Rusilia asked.
“Is that... on our side?”
Our side.
At those simple, clear words, Silikiel froze, turning to Eizel without even breathing. The mid-layer angels and heroes did the same.
Eizel blinked. She pondered Rusilia's question, then flashed a beaming smile. She leaped in place, spreading her wings wide and flinging her arms and legs out as she shouted.
“It's on our side!”
* * *
Lucille blinked.
Not because of the golden carrier's arrival or the fact that there were nine of them.
‘You're... too big?’
The carrier hurtling straight toward Cheon-ho was enormous.
The previous one had been suitcase-sized, as the name implied. This one was different. Nearly as big as Leon's stone coffin? No, even larger.
“Mo-Mother?”
What on earth could be inside something that huge?
What could require a size like that?
As Lucille blurted it out unwittingly, Mitra looked where Cheon-ho was. At the carrier that had finally arrived, standing tall like a pillar before Cheon-ho.
‘Our son, do your best!’
The writing plastered across the front of the carrier, large as a door, was familiar.
Cheon-ho chuckled softly, and so did Mitra. It was joyful, but the situation itself was just that amusing.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening roars followed.
The nine trajectories that had rained from the sky lined up and touched down on the ground.
The nine carriers became nine pillars.
Something was up.
No one knew what, but something big.
The evil gods and their army came to a complete halt midway up the basin slopes. Everyone inside the basin held their breath, eyes fixed on the basin's center—on the nine pillars.
Light bloomed.
From the first pillar before Cheon-ho, a beam of light radiated and expanded into the form of a woman.
A dazzlingly beautiful woman.
One so supreme in beauty that even the angels gaped in awe.
Golden hair with four horns sprouting amid it.
Golden eyes like Cheon-ho's.
She wore a pure white dress and smiled at Cheon-ho.
“Hello, son. You eating properly?”
It wasn't live communication. It was a recorded video.
But Cheon-ho nodded and replied.
“Yes, Mom.”
“What did you say?”
The dazed voice from behind belonged to Makina.
Sadly, no one focused on her words. Everyone perked up their ears, staring only at the golden-haired woman.
She spoke.
“I'm not sure if all twelve made it. But six or more should do the trick.”
Cheon-ho and Lucille instinctively looked skyward. So did the others, and even the evil gods and monsters followed suit.
Far off, gold glimmered. Three new trajectories etched across the sky.
“One squad needs to be complete, after all.”
She shrugged cutely with a bright smile, her words cryptic.
“Son, I don't know your exact situation. Could be a desperate crisis. If it's truly dire, press the red button. If it's calm, the green one.”
As she finished, a click sounded, and part of the carrier's lid popped open.
Cheon-ho unhesitatingly pressed the red button. The woman reacted instantly, reciting rapidly like a spell.
“Autonomous Powered Dragon Armor, activate.”
The moment she spoke, the eight other carriers moved in unison. Rectangular bodies sprouted not just arms and legs, but heads as well.
Eight golden statues with dragon heads.
They scanned their surroundings. In an instant, they stepped forward and formed a circle. Large enough to encompass Cheon-ho's group and even the Primordial Forge's entrance.
The eight statues stomped the ground. A magic circle etched into the snowy earth. Golden lines glowed across the white expanse, linking the statues. In a flash, a golden barrier unfurled.
“No matter the situation, it'll buy you time. So prepare in the meantime.”
The woman said. The lid of the lone remaining first carrier opened on its own. It felt less like an clothing bag and more like a fridge door swinging wide.
At that instant, Kablakasa bellowed. As a seasoned warrior before an evil god, she was no longer bewitched.
A barrier of light had formed, enclosing the forge's entrance. Delaying here risked it sealing shut again.
Unknown carriers had appeared.
The power emanating from the eight statues was immense.
But hesitation was a luxury.
“Charge!”
Kablakasa commanded. The five lesser evil gods echoed her cry, and the monsters forgot their fear. They surged forward again like a tidal wave at the evil gods' order.
Heaven and earth trembled.
A literal onslaught pounding the ground.
But Cheon-ho ignored them.
His companions did too. Even Makina was too busy peering into the carrier.
“I went all out on this.”
Enough to drain the treasury of the Holy Kingdom—Phayen's strongest nation—and loosen the roots of the Sun Tower just a bit.
The carrier's interior was lavish.
The gleaming golden space was tiered in three levels. The top held potions galore—dozens at a glance.
At the very bottom, leather tubes stood like cylinders, packed full.
Disposable scrolls, no doubt.
Around twenty by rough count.
And the middle level.
Larger than the top and bottom combined.
Armor resembling Father's.
And not just one set.
One male suit, two female.
The blue male armor in the center was Cheon-ho's.
The two female sets flanking it were surely for Mitra and Lucille.
“I wasn't sure which, so I prepared both.”
With that somewhat cryptic remark, the woman smiled gracefully. Lucille blinked. In her mental world, Mitra unwittingly looked at herself.
“The activation phrase is the same.”
The woman winked. At that moment, a roar erupted beyond the barrier—the eight statues unleashing disposable scrolls at the monsters.
Amid the terrifying explosions, Cheon-ho laughed again. He nodded to Lucille, who was looking at him, then shouted loudly.
“Armored!”
Cheon-ho's clothes dissolved. Simultaneously, the blue armor before him turned to light. Seven gems embedded in it positioned themselves across his body, reforming the armor.
The instant he donned it, Cheon-ho knew intuitively.
It matched Father's.
An identical powered dragon armor in performance. And it resonated with Cheon-ho's solar power.
Cheon-ho turned. He looked at Lucille, who pursed her lips. She hesitated briefly, then shouted resolutely.
“Armored!”
Lucille's clothes dissolved. Light enveloped her body, and seven gems took positions across her. Rather than armor, it formed a pure white powered dragon suit closer to a dress—like the woman's garb.
Lucille gazed at herself and beamed. Cheon-ho, who hadn't blinked through her transformation, smiled back in kind.
Then Cheon-ho turned to Mitra, caressing the golden gem as he said.
“Try it, Mitra.”
One was clearly hers.
Mother wouldn't have prepared a second female suit for anyone else.
[O-Okay, Armored!]
Mitra cried out, and the armor transformed. A beautiful white scabbard embraced her.
It was inevitable. Mitra's real form was a sword.
But Mitra wasn't disappointed. She was overjoyed, breathless with delight.
Not just her physical sheath had changed.
By some principle, some unknowable power, the clothes of her mental world self shifted too. A pure white powered dragon armor similar yet distinct from Lucille's—not quite armor or dress, but like her usual uniform.
Mitra looked at the woman. The woman winked faintly, as if meeting her gaze.
“I can see everything.”
With those quiet words, she straightened her shoulders. She looked at Cheon-ho once more.
“Do your best, son. I'm always cheering for you, anywhere, anytime.”
Always on your side.
Cheon-ho nodded. He took a deep breath, expanding his senses. He listened to the battle beyond the barrier.
The statues were a breakwater holding back the flood. But he couldn't leave it solely to them. With evil gods present, Cheon-ho had to step up himself.
Cheon-ho pulled an elixir bottle from the three provided in the carrier and downed it. It instantly restored his stamina and mana depleted by the duel, and he began combat prep.
First, he opened the leather tubes. Deactivated the recognition locks and distributed scrolls to the angels and heroes.
Makina closed the half-open forge door for defense. She gripped her swords again, previously set aside.
Rusilia clenched her fists instead of taking a scroll.
South Dipper Shadow Step and North Dipper Shadow Fist were her weapons. She needed nothing else.
Raguel opened her grimoire. Aurael gripped her spear, and Eizel glanced around before settling beside Raguel.
Cheon-ho exhaled deeply. No one needed to tell him—he knew. Donning the armor linked him to the eight statues. To all twelve carriers, in fact. He could command the statues like limbs.
Disperse the barrier. Engage the evil gods head-on.
But first, one last task.
The woman looked at Cheon-ho.
With the warmest smile a mother could give her son, she said.
“The sun is on your side now.”
What those words meant.
Why even Father couldn't best Mother in daylight.
Cheon-ho understood.
Even knowing it wouldn't transmit since it wasn't live, he told her.
“I'll be back.”
The woman waved.
Cheon-ho turned his back to her.
[O Hero.]
“Hero.”
The two in full powered dragon armor spoke from Cheon-ho's sides. Lucille spread her four wings wide, activating her halo, while Mitra emanated a soft golden glow along her blade.
Cheon-ho looked at everyone one last time. They all responded to his gaze.
“We're ready.”
“With the Hero.”
“May the five goddesses' blessings be with us.”
Voices rang out. Cheon-ho drew Mitra and commanded. The statues dismantled the barrier as he kicked off the ground.
He summoned the sun's power.
* * *
Kablakasa was panicking.
The plan was flawless.
Just minutes ago, everything had been proceeding perfectly.
The angels and heroes hadn't detected them, and the forge guardian Makina had fallen by legitimate means. The hero who fought Makina was weakened after over three hours of sparring.
And the forge entrance had appeared.
All as planned. They just needed to sweep away the foes and claim the unguarded forge.
Boom!
Groar!
Kaboom!
The basin echoed with thunderous blasts.
Relentless barrages of massive magic.
What in the world were those things?
What was happening?
The golden dragon-headed statues fired devastating spells from their hands like fireworks.
Some erupted into pillars of fire dozens of meters tall. Others erased everything in a dozens-of-meters radius.
Kablakasa couldn't comprehend. She simply stared in stunned incomprehension at the surreal scene.
Were each of those golden statues at least 5th-rank combat angel—no, 3rd-rank combat angel-level mages?
No. They were just ripping through disposable scrolls like mad.
The Holy Kingdom's prime minister would weep at the sight, screaming the treasury was exploding.
Each scroll cost no less than a mid-sized city's annual budget.
“Wh-what do we do?” “This is impossible? Kyaa!” Voices verging on wails came from the five lesser evil gods scattered across the basin. Kablakasa hurriedly dodged attacks too. Three golden statues soared through the sky, unleashing spells. Each blast vaporized dozens of monsters. Even three thousand wouldn't last at this rate. Kablakasa swallowed dryly again and again. An evil god she may be, but only mid-layer. Not an invincible deep-layer being. Moreover, she didn't realize the magic spectacle stemmed from scrolls. The golden statues' relentless area-of-effect barrages only inflated in her mind as overwhelmingly powerful. ‘We have to retreat.’ If Kablakasa herself engaged, she could take down a statue. But there were over ten. Even she had slim odds. [Retreat!] Kablakasa spat magical language instead of her voice. It reached only the five lesser evil gods. Abandon the monsters. Regrettable, but necessary. Securing herself and her five limbs' safety was paramount. At her command, the five turned tail. Each fleeing the basin in their own way. Kablakasa did likewise, commanding nearby monsters to charge as cover while she withdrew. But in that instant. The golden barrier at the basin's bottom lifted. Angels and heroes poured out.