Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts
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‘That’s too much.’
It was too much. Way too much, anyway. What kind of torture was this?
“You’ve got a great body, Hero.”
“Yeah, like a statue.”
“I touched it earlier, and it’s super firm.”
“And nice skin too.”
The goddesses chuckled slyly as they spoke. For some reason, their gazes felt scorching.
“Mm.”
[That’s not a ‘mm.’ Bury yourself deep in the bath. Just keep your head above water.]
As Cheon-ho tried to open his eyes to this new world, Mitra hurriedly spoke up. Her voice sounded quite troubled.
And so, about an hour passed like that.
The long yet short bath finally ended. It was time to leave the sanctuary of the Goddess of Bathing.
“Here, a gift from me. Take it.”
The Goddess of Bathing, her cheeks flushed rose-pink from the fresh bath, smiled as she spoke.
Just as expected, the gift was right there.
A large portable bathtub.
“It’s enchanted, so it can grow bigger. The more mana you pour in, the larger it gets.”
Normally a one-person tub, but it could expand up to accommodate thirty people.
“Bathing in this will relieve fatigue even better. It also has stamina recovery effects.”
These were features already present in Mitra’s bathwater, but double the benefits couldn’t hurt.
“And this.”
What the Goddess of Bathing held out was a cloth for washing the body. It was another expected item, which made it all the more welcome.
“Wash with this, and soap will come out automatically.”
“Thank you.”
Both seemed incredibly useful.
Lucille looked delighted too.
“Keep loving baths from now on.”
“I will. Please watch over me.”
“Yeah! I’ll be watching!”
The Goddess of Bathing waved as she saw Cheon-ho’s group off.
“Alright, let’s rest for today.”
“There’s a dinner banquet planned, so relax until then.”
The two goddesses personally escorted Cheon-ho to his lodgings as they spoke.
The Goddesses of Music and Painting weren’t particularly powerful deities, but they were still sisters to the Goddess of Healing.
For such goddesses to personally guide Cheon-ho this far was undoubtedly special treatment.
Cheon-ho’s lodgings were on the floor directly below the Pantheon.
It was a restricted area with limited access, so it was incredibly quiet and serene.
‘Feels like a five-star hotel.’
The lodgings were entirely pristine white. A large parlor sat in the center, surrounded by eight rooms.
Each of those rooms had smaller chambers attached, making the space surprisingly spacious.
Luxurious lodgings.
But the best part was the view, hands down.
The sight beyond the massive window at the far end of the parlor.
The Citadel of Justice.
A series of fortress cities piercing through the center.
Perhaps because so many benevolent gods gathered here, the sky was clear. Not ashen, but a true blue.
The view on the ground was dazzling too. No—more precisely, intricate and vibrant.
The safest place in the Great Labyrinth was, without doubt, the Citadel of Justice.
Countless people had put down roots here and made it their home.
Just the population on the 10th floor numbered in the hundreds of thousands—a metropolis in its own right.
All those people living down there.
Suddenly, the city of rock dwarves came to mind. So did the mountain clan that had settled in the capital of Floren Kingdom.
And they weren’t the only ones.
Forest elves. The people of the empire dwelling on the Silphian Plateau.
People who had fought alongside Cheon-ho himself, people he had protected.
Strictly speaking, they were strangers.
But it didn’t feel that way. He wanted to protect the scene unfolding before his eyes.
‘Because I’m the Hero.’
A phrase his father often uttered.
Blood couldn’t lie, it seemed.
“Hero.”
Lucille spoke softly, taking Cheon-ho’s hand. It felt like something she had to do.
Cheon-ho clasped her hand in return. To keep Mitra from grumbling, he gripped her hilt with his other hand.
Hero, holy sword, and angel.
‘So let’s save the Labyrinth World together.’
Mitra’s words when they’d first met on the 1st floor.
[My liege, why are you smiling like that?]
“Just... reminded me of the old days.”
One of the five goddesses, the Goddess of War, Evnail’s divine artifact.
It had to be reclaimed to save the Labyrinth World. That’s what the Goddess of Healing had said.
The 15th floor.
The lowest level of the mid-layers, and the fiercest battlefield there.
Cheon-ho tightened his grip on Mitra and Lucille’s hands. He etched the scene before him into his heart once more.
* * *
Five days after Cheon-ho’s group arrived at the Citadel of Justice.
The Goddess of Purification, who had walked and walked to finally reach the Citadel, faced the welcoming angels and narrowed her eyes. She spoke as if it were obvious.
“They left?”
The angels nodded awkwardly at her curt question.
As suspected.
The big sis Goddess of Healing had told her to come to the 15th floor together.
“Well, we’ll meet on the 15th floor, then.”
The Goddess of Purification was already at peace with it. She’d half-expected this.
They just needed to meet up eventually. No reason to stick together the whole time.
“So don’t be disappointed. We’ll see them on the 15th floor anyway.”
As the Goddess of Purification encouraged them, Chris, the hero from Phaien, gave an awkward smile.
‘They’re just alike, really.’
The Hero of Phaien had been the same way.
Like someone was sabotaging them, their paths always diverged whenever they tried to meet.
“Anyway, let’s go. Gotta shake off the travel fatigue first.”
The Goddess of Purification took leisurely steps forward, and Chris bit his lip to soothe his anxiety before following behind.
As the Goddess of Purification said, they’d meet on the 15th floor. They would.
So why this nagging unease?
Chris pressed a hand to his chest to calm himself and let out a long breath. He headed toward the Citadel of Justice.
[Lewd Lv7 experience increased.]
[Lewd Lv7 experience increased.]
[Lewd Lv7 experience increased.]
[Torment Force Lv4 experience increased.]
[Torment Force has reached Lv5.]
[Lewd Lv7 experience increased.]
[Lewd Lv7 experience increased.]
제15장 호세사천왕
A man and a woman sat facing each other.
As always, they were inside the woman’s tower.
The woman had lived for eons, but true life had only begun for her after meeting the man.
Perhaps because of that, her sense of time differed from other long-lived beings. It was closer to that of busy mortals.
‘Yeah, that’s why.’
The man thought as he watched the woman, who had been on the verge of exploding for days now.
He convinced himself.
The woman’s patience was nearing its limit.
It had been over a month since sending the second carrier.
A long yet short time.
Differences in the flow of time between worlds meant a month here could be a day or a year there.
“It won’t have grown that much.”
The woman thought so. It wasn’t mere wishful thinking. There was solid evidence.
For a very brief moment, she’d had real-time communication with her son. Impossible if the time difference was extreme.
World coordinates weren’t fixed.
Some worlds were stationary, but not Phaien—her world—or Earth, the man’s world, or the one her son had gone to.
Like tiny fish swimming diligently in a stream, each a world unto itself.
Still, directionality allowed rough estimation of positions.
Twelve carriers had been sent. If one found her son, it would summon the other eleven from nearby worlds.
The carriers’ immense size wasn’t just for transformation and combination. They needed vast mana to traverse between worlds twice.
For the second carrier, the woman hadn’t just emptied the tower and the kingdom’s treasury. She’d poured in nearly half the mana stored in her tower.
It was only natural.
Not a bit regrettable.
Just frustrating with no results.
She’d ensured signals would return upon arrival, but none had come.
Many possibilities existed. Inter-world travel was inherently difficult. She’d expected only half of the twelve to arrive.
“They made it.”
The man said, and instead of grumbling for evidence, the woman decided to think like him.
“And growth is going smoothly too. Your blood... well, the solar mana has awakened, right? He’ll probably activate the scroll from the first carrier soon.”
The woman’s hidden card.
She closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, and nodded.
“You’re right.”
Her anger subsided a little. Come to think of it, night was approaching.
The woman spoke.
“He’s inherited your blood too... right?”
The man’s blood.
More precisely, the lineage of the hero clan passed down through his family for generations.
If that blood awakened.
If he gained the same power as the man.
The woman claimed to be Phaien’s strongest. Not just under the sun. Within Phaien, she was godlike.
But against the man before her, it was impossible.
Specifically at night, though still—when not daytime, even Phaien’s strongest couldn’t defeat him.
The man furrowed his brow slightly, scratched his chin, and said,
“Probably.”
No, he was almost certain. But like her power, mastering his required a process.
“Will manuals be enough?”
At her question, the man gave a wry smile.
“He’s my kid, but a monster at learning. Even with trial and error, he’ll pick it up somehow.”
Heavenly Demon Divine Art and Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts.
Both were techniques needed to awaken his blood.
Especially in the awakening phase, Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts was crucial.
Truth be told, the man was a bit anxious too.
He’d learned Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts through self-study, and awakening his blood had taken considerable time.
His son took after the woman in learning speed, but strictly speaking, he was the type who learned faster through physical experience. He’d gain more from one real move of Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts than reading manuals a hundred times.
If someone could demonstrate Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts for his son. Teach him even a single move.
The boy would achieve brilliant results.
The woman knew this too. She slumped her shoulders and let out a hollow laugh.
“But in the first place, it’s just you.”
Who had mastered Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts.
At her words, the man rolled his eyes sideways.
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“Well, it’s... how should I put it...”
She got sharp whenever that person came up, despite never meeting them.
“There are others, besides me.”
Who had mastered Four Guardian Kings Martial Arts.
Someone other than him—the man himself had personally taught.
By now, the woman caught on. Her eyes narrowed further, then she sighed.
“Pointless talk.”
That person the man mentioned couldn’t possibly be in the Labyrinth World.
“Yeah, probably.”
Come to think of it, I wonder how they’re doing.
The man briefly recalled that person.
A beautiful elf holy knight with silver bobbed hair and green eyes.
‘Chris von Crisaor.’
A nostalgic name.
* * *
As Cheon-ho’s group left the 10th floor and descended to the 12th, some changes occurred in the party.
The composition had shifted.
First, the search party led by Liliel, who’d joined at the Primordial Forge, had split off.
They’d left their home floor originally to search the Primordial Forge, so upon reaching the 12th—their original floor—they had no further reason to travel with Cheon-ho’s group.
“Take care. I’ll always be cheering for you.”
“You too, Liliel.”
After a brief farewell, Liliel’s group headed west on the 12th floor.
There were many places to protect beyond the Citadel of Justice.
It wasn’t just the search party that departed.
Changes hit the combat angel squad led by Saschiell too.
“Only Eliel and I are staying.”
In the Great Labyrinth, one could rise in rank with each descending floor, but it wasn’t automatic.
True rank increase only came when the descender was fully qualified.
The combat angels had managed relatively smoothly up to the 10th floor thanks to all they’d been through with Cheon-ho, but from the 11th, some couldn’t keep up.
Rather than drag them along blindly, Saschiell left them on the 11th floor.
Mujiel, Kajiel, Yujiel, Rael.
The four beast-type combat angels exchanged reluctant goodbyes before ascending to the 10th floor.
The rock dwarves saw personnel changes too.
They couldn’t keep pace with rank increases either.
All but Orenol—the de facto chariot master of the Goddess of Healing’s chariot—and his assistant Sara ascended to the 10th floor with the combat angels.
The group, once over twenty strong, had shrunk drastically to fourteen after losing that many.
Cheon-ho and Lucille. The three-angel squad.
Lucillia and Silikiel, who’d stay until the 14th floor.
Saschiell and Eliel.
Orenol and Sara.
Makina.
Twelve remained.
Still not small, but the emptiness was unavoidable.