Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Mother's Voice
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The news spread through the Angel Network.
The battered remnants of the interception squad, barely clinging to survival, set their sights on the 8th floor to avoid the Winter King's army, which was undoubtedly heading toward the center.
The search party, en route to the outskirts of the 10th floor to scour the Primordial Forge, gritted their teeth and ignored the situation on the 9th floor.
Chris suppressed his anxiety as he climbed the stairs from the 11th floor to the 10th.
And at the same time.
Having received the remnants' rescue request through the Angel Network, Cheon-ho stared at the carrier with a tense expression.
Lucille swallowed dryly. Mitra was visibly on edge as well.
The carrier sent by his parents.
The leather tube containing the mysterious scroll still couldn't be opened.
But one thing had changed from before.
The silver card that held his father's recording.
The discovery had been by chance.
After hearing the news from the 9th floor, he'd opened his parents' carrier partly to calm his frayed nerves.
With his level having risen so much, maybe he could use the third scroll now? That hopeful thought.
And while waving his hand to dismiss his father's usual rambling recording—as he always did—he remembered to tidy it up and pulled out the silver card.
Then came a reaction. A faint golden light emanated from the silver card.
It was a glow he hadn't been able to see before awakening his mother's blood.
And now.
Cheon-ho turned to Lucille. She nodded, and this time Mitra swallowed dryly.
Cheon-ho looked at the silver card again. Slowly, he infused it with mana—the mana transformed by awakening his mother's blood.
A moment later.
His mother's voice flowed from the silver card.
* * *
5th Rank Combat Angel Silikiel had originally been active on the 10th floor.
The interception squad urgently assembled by the God of Healing included numerous angels and heroes, but the core had been the humans residing on the 9th floor.
Descendants of the Aiter Empire.
The Aiter Empire had fallen. It wasn't just that its territories had shattered into dozens of pieces scattered across the floors.
Before the Great Labyrinth's erosion fully took hold, hordes of Demon Gods had directly assaulted the Labyrinth World.
In the war commonly called the Anti-Demon Great War, the five goddesses had joined the fray personally, and humanity's mightiest nation, the Aiter Empire, had committed fully as well.
The empire had already lost much in the Anti-Demon Great War.
But the most fatal blow was the extinction of the imperial bloodline.
Devoid of its central pillar, the empire fragmented like so many nations in history, and the Great Labyrinth's erosion physically tore it apart.
For it to have endured in such a state would have been the real anomaly.
The empire's former vassals, nobles, and mighty knights had each formed their own factions.
With the Great Labyrinth's erosion at play, few burned with ambitions to reunify the empire or claim the throne anew.
They had built independent forces and grown their power simply to survive.
Traces of the empire lingered strongest in the mid-layers' eastern sector.
The 8th floor held the Siliphian Highlands, birthplace of Founding Emperor and demon-slaying hero Leonhardt. The 10th floor housed Aiterium, once the imperial capital.
The 9th floor contained the Canto region in its entirety—a western bulwark of the old empire—and its humans formed the backbone of the interception squad.
"With that force wiped out entirely, they're likely to push straight for the center."
Even within the Great Labyrinth, the Canto region—former bulwark of the empire—served as a sturdy barrier.
Their role was to guard the passes linking the 9th floor's eastern evil gods to the center.
Now, with those forces gone, the gates to the center lay wide open.
Lucillia.
No formal name; she was simply a hero from the demon realm, and not human.
Red Demon.
As the name implied, a devilish demonkin with crimson skin.
But she wasn't evil. She was merely a resident of the demon realm, not a servant of wicked evil gods or Demon Gods.
"Our Demon King is a really good person."
Once, Lucillia had shown off a treasured paper that read, "Chicken fried personally by the Demon King—exchangeable." She'd won it in a festival lottery, she said.
A Demon King who fried chicken.
How much of her tale to believe was questionable, but per her claims, that was the truth.
In any case, Silikiel stared blankly at her assigned hero, Lucillia, for a moment.
Aside from the red skin and two horns on her forehead, she was a remarkably prim blonde girl. Her smile was pretty, too.
Pure, kind, level 69—quite strong—but despite appearances suggesting mid-teens, her actual age was five. So, as always, Silikiel spoke in a scolding tone.
"Right, it's a reasonable theory, but we can't be certain. He sent a full 20,000 troops to the 8th floor, after all. It could be a feint, or maybe that's his real target."
The interception squad, crushed by the Winter King's army, scattered like any routed remnants.
With survival itself a struggle, Silikiel had done her utmost and managed to rally about three hundred soldiers.
"I see. They might head to the 8th floor, then. Anyway, Silikiel, I'm hungry."
Lucillia slumped her shoulders. They'd fled in such chaos that supplies were nonexistent.
From Silikiel's perspective, whether the Winter King aimed for the center or the 8th floor, the immediate task was fixed.
They'd already fled toward the 8th floor, so up they went. Link up with that super rookie—Park Cheon-ho—who'd smashed the enemy's vanguard.
That's why they were pushing toward the pillar connecting to the 8th floor now. The Winter King's vanguard had swept through once, leaving few monsters in their path—travel was smoother than expected.
If only there was food.
"I'm hungry, Silikiel."
As Lucillia whined again, Silikiel slumped her shoulders in response.
"Me too."
"Um, can't you give me some milk?"
"Hey, how many times do I have to say it? Nothing comes out."
"Tch, small and useless."
"Hey! You don't have any either!"
"I'm five! You're way older than me. Siguelle said you're an old spinster."
"You little brat! Hey! Most angels are spinsters or bachelors, okay? Siguelle's a bachelor too!"
Silikiel grabbed Lucillia's neck and shook her wildly. The watching soldiers awkwardly averted their eyes.
They'd seen this scene before, but each time, it shattered illusions about angels and heroes.
"Anyway, I'm hungry."
Lucillia gazed at her chicken coupon with a gloomy expression.
Her big eyes welled up with tears.
For all her talk, she was only five.
She'd arrived in the Labyrinth World two years ago, effectively separated from her parents at three.
Even if Red Demons had short childhoods and matured quickly, it was still too young.
Feeling pity, Silikiel gripped Lucillia's hand tightly.
"We'll be fine once we reach the 8th floor. They say that Park Cheon-ho guy's an amazing cook."
"As good as the Demon King?"
"I haven't tried that Demon King's chicken, but anyway, he's supposed to be great."
"I wanna get there fast."
Lucillia wiped her tears and said.
Truth be told, as a Red Demon, she could move far faster. Silikiel, being an angel, could fly too.
But the human soldiers couldn't. Some would surely lag behind.
'For all her whining, she's sweet.'
Silikiel chuckled softly and patted Lucillia's head on tiptoes.
After savoring the touch for a bit, Lucillia glanced around slyly and whispered.
"But, Silikiel."
"Yeah, Lucillia."
"Really nothing? I'm seriously starving."
Instead of answering, Silikiel shook Lucillia's neck again.
* * *
"Connecting now, so please wait a moment."
It was his mother's voice from the silver card.
How long had it been? Cheon-ho's eyes welled up unbidden.
It felt different from his father's. And it had to—Cheon-ho recalled his father's words several times a day. Sometimes, Father felt truly present.
But Mother was different.
It had truly been ages since he'd heard her voice.
An image projected from the silver card.
Golden hair with four horns sprouting amid it.
Radiant golden eyes and a pure white dress adorned with gold accents everywhere.
It was his first time seeing Mother's true form.
In his memories, she was beautiful but with black hair and black eyes—a typical Korean look.
Yet it felt familiar. Natural, even.
Mother's true appearance.
He understood now why the Forest Dragon called her noble.
You couldn't help but feel it upon seeing her.
"Haa, haa."
Lucille breathed raggedly, then swallowed. She clenched her fists, steeled herself, and stared straight ahead.
'The Hero's mom!'
Eizel had said it: Must impress the Hero's mom no matter what. Score points with Mom first.
Why score points? Questionable. But she was the Hero's mom. Had to make a good impression.
"Hello! I'm the Hero's angel, Lucille!"
[I'm the Hero's holy sword, Mitra? No, Mitra!]
As Lucille bowed her head in greeting, Mitra piped up loudly. It sounded like a frantic echo.
Lucille swallowed while still bowed.
Mitra remembered her voice didn't carry outside and groaned inwardly. She couldn't lose here, she thought. What winning or losing meant—or why it mattered—was unclear.
Anyway, seconds ticked by after their greetings.
Lucille bit her lip, waiting anxiously as if each second were a minute.
Ten seconds already, and no reply from Mom.
'D-Does she dislike me?'
Raguel-senior had read a book with a similar scene once.
The female lead greeting the male lead's mother for the first time.
The mother glaring disapprovingly, then splashing water.
'Stay away from our Cheon-ho! Never show your face again!'
No, can't be. I'm the Hero's angel. The Hero's angel.
As Lucille spun wild fantasies, Mitra eyed the Hero's mom anxiously too.
Mom hadn't stirred at all.
'D-Did she not hear our greeting?'
Fanciful nonsense, all of it. No one would fault a sword for not greeting. To outsiders, Mitra was just a sword.
While angel and holy sword fretted in delusions.
Cheon-ho scratched his cheek lightly. Instead of pointing out Mitra's greetings wouldn't be heard anyway, he noted something more crucial to both.
"Uh... this seems like a pre-recorded video."
"Huh?!"
Lucille jerked her head up to the projection.
Now that she thought about it, yes.
The Hero's dad's video had been recorded too.
"Phew, what a relief."
Not that she disliked me.
Relief loosened her tension, tears trailing down Lucille's cheeks.
"L-Lucille?"
"N-No, it's nothing."
As Lucille giggled and wiped her tears.
"Son?"
Mother's voice came again.
But unlike the first activation.
Static crackled in her voice.
Like a bad connection.
Lucille blinked. Cheon-ho stared piercingly at the projection.
The image had changed too.
Noise distorted Mother's once-clear form.
Her outfit? No, blatantly different now—shifted to red.
Come to think of it, hadn't it been from the start?
"Connecting now, so please wait a moment."
Connecting.
What that implied.
And what the altered image and voice meant.
"Mom?!"
Cheon-ho blurted reflexively. Lucille held her breath. Mitra gulped.
"Son? Son? Can you hear me now? S-so-o-o-nnn—."
"I hear you! I can hear you!"
"He-e-e-re is Pha-Pha-Phai-i-zz-zz-zz."
"Phaien? Phaien? This is the Labyrinth World! Labyrinth World!"
Cheon-ho raised his voice again.
Lucille panted. In her mental world, Mitra clenched her fists.
A connection to Mother.
Not recorded—live.
"Son! Wai—?"
And that was it.
The voice cut off. The static image snapped back to clear recording.
"Connection unstable, so try again later."
The recording played.
Cheon-ho pumped mana into the silver card repeatedly, but no dice.
[What happened? Can't reconnect? One-time use?]
Not that.
Not the card—external issue.
"There are two main causes."
Raguel, whom Lucille had urgently fetched, adjusted mysterious glasses after hearing the gist.
Her black-dyed clothes lent her poised stance an oddly seductive air.
"First, we're inside the Great Labyrinth. The Labyrinth World is a world within a world. Connecting outward is inherently tough."
Hero summons from the Labyrinth World originally happened outside the Great Labyrinth.
Summoning across worlds was hard enough; inside, it'd mean crossing two—high risk of deflection midway.
Cheon-ho had lucked out summoning on the 1st floor, where Demon God aura was weak. Mid-layers? He'd have bounced to another world entirely.
"Second reason... probably the time axis."
"Time axis?"
At Lucille's question, Raguel pursed her lips before answering.
"Worlds have different time flows. A year here might be a month or day elsewhere. Extreme cases, sure... usually close. One minute here is one minute ten seconds there, say. But flows differ, so real-time links are tricky."
[Indeed. Two barriers already, and timelines misaligned—tough connection.]
It made sense. But giving up? No.
"Any solutions?"
"Yes. Make our signal stronger."
Two barriers?
Strong enough to punch through both.
Timelines off?
Strong enough not to lose the link anyway.
"If we connected briefly and talked, timelines aren't that far off. Boost the signal, and it'll work."
[In short, get stronger.]
If Cheon-ho could wield greater power, nurture the strength awakened by his mother's blood further.
"Hero."
These angels had seen the parents' carrier. Direct connection—what then? What aid?
"Ugh, my heart's pounding."
Eizel clutched her chest, wriggling.
Cheon-ho nodded to Lucille watching him, then caressed the silver card again.
[By the way, no separate recording of Mother?]
The card held Father's video.
So shouldn't Mother's be there too?
Logical. Cheon-ho infused mana carefully, probing like learning its use.
Minutes later.
Mother's image projected again.
Black hair, black eyes.
Everyday Mother.