Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Chapter 2 - Floor 2 #2
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7th Rank Combat Angel Saschiell.
He took the form of a lion with a golden mane and fur.
But he wasn't just any lion.
Pure white and enormous wings were attached to his back, a halo of light floated above his head, and he wore partial plate armor adorned with pure white cloth and gold.
His face, as he lay on his side with his body stretched out, bore unmistakable signs of fatigue and pain. Upon closer inspection, broken arrows were embedded in various parts of his body, and there was a long gash across his waist.
"Lord Saschiell, I am the 9th Rank Angel Lucille. I'll heal you right away."
Lucille spoke urgently as she moved toward Saschiell's waist.
Compared to Lucille, he was quite—no, blatantly enormous.
'It puts the lions at the zoo to shame.'
Lucille was on the smaller side, but regardless, Saschiell was just huge.
The size difference between them seemed exaggeratedly over five times.
Cheon-ho approached Lucille, who had immediately begun the healing, and examined Saschiell's wounds together with her.
Judging by the discoloration of the wound on his waist, it wasn't just a simple cut—he had been poisoned as well.
"Lucille, start with purification magic to neutralize the poison."
"Yes, Hero."
"And..."
Cheon-ho asked Lucille to retrieve a blanket from the inventory, then covered the waists of both Lucille and Saschiell with it.
It was because the pink light emanating from Lucille stood out too much in the darkness created by the shadows.
"It might feel stuffy, but bear with it just a bit longer."
"Yes."
Lucille gave a short reply and focused on the healing.
Cheon-ho glanced at Saschiell once more, then sheathed the heat dagger at his waist and gripped throwing knives in both hands.
Mitra spoke lowly.
[Monsters are gathering.]
Cheon-ho knew it too.
They were monsters that had gathered nearby, drawn by the scent of Saschiell's blood. They must have pinpointed the exact direction from the light Lucille had emitted at first.
[A barrier is deployed around us. Likely set by that lion angel.]
That was why the monsters, despite smelling the blood and gathering, had been wandering nearby without approaching.
Cheon-ho stepped forward and let out a long breath.
The barrier's effect must still have been holding, as the monsters didn't come charging from all directions at once.
Cheon-ho closed his eyes.
In the dark shadows, instead of relying on sight, he focused his awareness on hearing.
At the same time, he expanded his ki sense widely to detect the surroundings.
The sound of footsteps reached him.
His ki sense revealed their positions more clearly.
Cheon-ho's hands moved.
In the darkness, two knives sliced through the air, and an unidentified monster let out a short scream as it tumbled down.
From the footsteps, he could estimate their weight.
They were light.
Definitely smaller monsters than Giant Rats.
From the location and height of the short scream, he could roughly gauge their head height.
An image of the monsters formed in Cheon-ho's mind.
And this enabled even more precise throws.
He threw twelve knives.
Twelve monsters rolled on the ground, and even Mitra let out an involuntary exclamation.
Mitra wasn't the only one surprised.
[The Labyrinth World marvels at your wondrous throwing skill.]
[Throwing Lv5 evolves into Wondrous Throwing Lv1.]
[Wondrous Throwing: No matter the posture, thrown objects fly with the power and speed of a perfect throw.]
Cheon-ho opened his eyes. No more footsteps could be heard.
Looking toward Lucille, she was still under the blanket, continuously casting healing magic.
[Truly astonishing. What manner of training did you undergo to reach this level?]
'Fantasy.'
With a hero for a father and a mage for a mother, it was fair to say he'd received a fantasy-style home education.
But truthfully, even Cheon-ho himself was surprised.
'This actually works.'
It had been an impossible feat before coming to the Labyrinth World.
It was the result of enhanced physical abilities from leveling up, combined with ki sense detection using internal energy.
His chest pounded a little.
He was curious himself how far he could develop.
'First, let's recover them.'
Calming his excitement with deep breaths, Cheon-ho stepped toward the monster corpses to retrieve his knives.
Mitra, examining the corpses, spoke again.
[Single-horned rabbits.]
[Monsters that gore with the horn on their forehead or bite with their teeth to suck blood.]
They were rabbits with a single horn on their foreheads like unicorns—smaller than Giant Rats as expected, but still fairly sizable.
'Plenty of meat here.'
The fur looked soft too.
Rabbits weren't common in Korea, but abroad, they were often raised for meat and hides.
Rabbit meat was great for stew or roasting.
'Rich in protein too.'
Gathering the single-horned rabbit corpses with a pleased mind, Cheon-ho retrieved his knives and headed back to Lucille and Saschiell.
Just then, the healing seemed finished, as Lucille was crawling out from under the blanket.
"Whew, I've put out the urgent fire. He should be fine now."
"Good work."
As Cheon-ho smiled and offered a handkerchief, the sweat-drenched Lucille beamed and took it.
"Oh, Hero, you took care of these in the meantime?"
"Yeah, I'll make rabbit stew for dinner tonight. Look forward to it."
"Yes, Hero."
Lucille swallowed hard, eyeing the single-horned rabbits.
Having already consumed rat meat and skeleton bone broth, rabbit stew seemed wonderfully normal and sensible to her.
"I'll skin them and make pillows."
"Wow, really?"
"Yeah, with this much hide, gloves or scarves would work too. And the white color will look pretty."
"You're so cool, Hero."
"Mm."
Cheon-ho struggled to hide his smile while striking a cool pose, and Lucille showed a radiant smile.
Then Mitra spoke.
[You two, heartwarming moments are nice, but this isn't the time.]
"Mm."
It was true.
Regaining his composure, Cheon-ho asked Lucille.
"Lucille, can Saschiell speak yet?"
"It's possible... Hero..."
The response came from Saschiell himself.
The phrasing was a bit odd, but he was handsomer than most people, a lion with a deep, cool voice to match.
'His eyes are blue too.'
Literally blond-haired and blue-eyed.
For some reason, Cheon-ho let out a sigh before asking again.
"Saschiell, can you move? We should leave this spot first."
He had taken care of the ones gathered nearby, but moving was still wise.
Saschiell nodded slightly and said.
"Understood, Hero. And... I have urgent news for you. It's a race against time."
Forcing himself upright, Saschiell continued with a strained voice.
"I belonged to a unit assigned to reconnaissance in the lower floors. We pursued the minions of the Plague God to the outskirts... but fell into a trap they had set, and the squad was annihilated. The squad members scattered... and while I barely survived and evaded pursuit during my escape, I learned of their vile plot."
Pausing there to catch his breath a few times, Saschiell tried to wrap up.
But Lucille was a bit quicker.
"Um... you mean the Plague God is building an altar in the lower floors? And performing some evil ritual?"
At Lucille's question, Saschiell's eyes widened.
"No, how do you know that?"
"Uh..."
Lucille smiled awkwardly and looked to Cheon-ho, who nodded and explained in her place.
"We already destroyed the altar on the 1st floor. We plan to destroy the one on the 2nd floor too."
"Ooh..."
Saschiell let out genuine admiration.
The way he looked at Cheon-ho had changed.
"Hero, if the ritual completes, a great calamity will befall the Labyrinth World. We must stop them before it finishes."
"Understood."
That was when Cheon-ho replied.
[Chronicle Quest: Adversary of the Plague God]
[Combat Angel Saschiell knows the approximate location of the 2nd floor altar.]
[Work with Saschiell to thwart the Plague God's plot.]
Light panels appeared right on cue.
And then more new ones followed.
[Hidden Quest 'Rescue Request' completed.]
[Hidden Quest reward: 7th Rank Combat Angel Saschiell joins.]
[Hidden Quest reward: Obtained title Angels' Ally Lv1.]
[Angels' Ally: Angels show you favor.]
[Hidden Quest reward: Intermediate Healing Potion]
"Mm."
Not bad.
Honestly, the first reward felt questionable as a reward, but the second and third were satisfying.
'And it has a level this time.'
Unlike Rat Slayer or Rat Ogre Slayer. No idea how to level it yet, but if raised well, it could be more useful than expected.
'Recovery potions are always welcome.'
Pocketing the red potion that appeared in his palm, Cheon-ho turned to Saschiell.
"Saschiell, then let's move firs—"
That was as far as he got.
Cheon-ho cut himself off. Saschiell and Lucille looked in the same direction almost simultaneously, and Cheon-ho turned his head too.
A sound came.
Flames were visible beyond the darkness.
Even in the shadowed darkness, with distance and obstacles, the flames were clearly visible.
"No."
Saschiell suddenly said. Forcing himself up urgently, he added quickly.
"While escaping, I saw a fairy tribe village. The ones pursuing me must have attacked it."
"Fairy tribe? You mean Forest Elves?"
At Lucille's question, Saschiell nodded, and Cheon-ho shot to his feet.
"Let's hurry."
If people were in danger, he had to save them.
Moreover, fairy tribe—Forest Elves, no less.
[Forest Elves... I encountered them in the past. A fairy tribe living in the forest, composed entirely of beautiful women.]
Mitra said, and Cheon-ho wasted no more time.
Lucille also jumped up, glaring toward the flames, while Saschiell kicked off the ground with effort.
[Hidden Quest: Forest Elf Rescue]
[Rescue the Forest Elves in peril.]
Cheon-ho started running.
Father once said.
'Son, among the women I saw in Phaien, the second most beautiful was the queen of the elves.'
'The queen of the elves?'
'Yes, elves. Ah, elves.'
It was rare for Father to repeat himself like that.
So young Cheon-ho listened more deeply than usual.
'Mm.'
It wasn't any ulterior motive.
He was simply rushing as a hero to save those in crisis.
Showing interest in those he had to rescue was only natural, wasn't it?
Elves.
Long-eared elves.
Forest Elves, made entirely of beautiful women unlike angels.
Not a lion angel with a mane, but beautiful golden-haired, mature big-sister types.
Cheon-ho focused.
Each time his feet hit the ground, the sounds grew louder. As the distance closed, screams became audible too.
Soaring flames.
A burning village.
Monsters attacking the village.
No time for stray thoughts. Gripping his heat dagger tightly, Cheon-ho accelerated further.
Far faster than the injured Saschiell.
The darkness lifted.
A clearing lay in the middle of the forest, with a village at its center.
Monsters spotting Cheon-ho shrieked something, and likewise, the Forest Elves who saw him wailed for help.
"Save us!"
"Help!"
Of course, that was the plan.
He had come with that intention from the start.
But Cheon-ho couldn't help groaning.
"Mm."
Hand-sized Forest Elves ran desperately to escape.
Some even darted between Cheon-ho's legs.
"Mm."
The tiny, pretty doll-like Forest Elves fled into the forest.
Giant Rats and ratmen—who were giants to the Forest Elves—attacking the miniature village turned their hostility toward Cheon-ho.
"Hero!"
Lucille's voice came from far behind, along with what sounded like Saschiell's roar.
"Mm."
[Hero?]
Mitra asked, and Cheon-ho exhaled deeply.
Clenching the heat dagger, he charged at the ratmen.
A charge of fury.