Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Mother's Message
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* * *
"It's connected!"
At the edge of Phaien.
From the topmost floor of the tower—called the Pillar of the World, which had existed since before the dawn of human history—the tower's ruler shouted.
A woman.
She clenched her fist.
The Labyrinth World.
The world that had summoned her son.
The place where her son was right now.
She hadn't forgotten the brief glimpse of the image.
Her son was wearing the armor she had sent him. By his side was a strikingly beautiful angel with pink hair and a sword with a striking golden gem.
An angel.
There were many worlds with beneficial beings that had wings. Phaien itself had beneficial beings, after all.
The woman squeezed her eyes shut.
The connection had been made, but the time had been too short. Not enough data had been gathered for backtracking.
But there was a clue, at least. It should be enough to drastically narrow down the search range.
And one more thing.
Cheon-ho's eyes had turned golden.
No, the very fact that he had activated the card's communication function held meaning.
"You've awakened it."
The blood she had passed down to him.
Blood nobler and greater than any in Phaien.
The power of the sun.
It was a relief. She was honestly relieved. She had worried that the man's blood, mixed in half, might prevent it from awakening.
But then a question suddenly arose.
Her own blood had awakened.
Then what about the man's blood? Had his blood awakened as well?
She wasn't talking about the Hero's Blood.
She meant something more fundamental.
The woman exhaled. Calming her excitement, she leaned back into the jade throne.
For now, she needed to get word to the man who would be in the Holy Kingdom. She had to mobilize her subordinates to find this place called the Labyrinth World.
"By the way... heh, an angel and a holy sword, huh."
As a great being of the sun, the woman could see the essence of souls. In her eyes, Mitra's true form was visible.
'My son is popular.'
Flashing a briefly proud-mom smile, the woman quickly composed herself. She emanated mana to assemble her subordinates.
* * *
"I thought a day like this might come someday... but it really has arrived."
The recorded image of the mother was straightforward, as expected.
"As you know, I know, and everyone knows, your father talks a lot. He used up almost all the recording time, so there's not much left. So forgive me if I proceed efficiently."
"Yes, Mother."
Lucille replied as if entranced by Mother's smile, and Mitra flinched before quickly following suit.
[I understand. No, yes, Mother.]
"I said this earlier, but this is a recorded image."
Still, their diligent responses were cute.
Cheon-ho let it slide and focused back on the image.
"First, let me explain the items I sent..."
From there, it was a stream of efficient explanations, just as she had promised.
"The first three potions you've used a few times, so no need for much explanation, but the important one is the elixir."
In Phaien, it was called divine water. Cheon-ho knew it was precious but didn't know the exact usage.
"The simplest use is, of course, healing and regeneration, but there are other ways to use it."
Cheon-ho, Lucille, and Mitra listened intently to the following explanations. Lucille even took notes.
"After the elixir comes the magic armor."
At the explanation, Cheon-ho blinked, and Lucille looked anew at his magic armor.
She hadn't expected it to have so many functions.
And it wasn't just the magic armor.
The carrier had unexpected uses too.
[Whoa, so that's how it works.]
Cheon-ho had thought the carrier was sturdy but ordinary. After hearing the usage, it was clearly no ordinary item.
"Lastly, the scrolls."
The explanation for the scrolls was relatively short and simple. Cheon-ho had already used two of the three, so the first two held little new meaning.
The important one was the third scroll.
Cheon-ho nodded at Mother's explanation. He could roughly understand why the third scroll required so much more preparation than the first two.
"That's the explanation. You can replay it, so if anything's unclear, listen again."
Lucille flinched at Mother's words; she had been diligently taking notes.
Cheon-ho gave a small smile and looked back at Mother. It was just an image, but Mother seemed to be looking at him too.
"You're no one else but the child of me and your dad. Our son. I believe in you. No matter where you go or what situation you're in, you'll handle it well."
She smiled as she spoke, but Cheon-ho could tell. It was a forced smile. There was a slight glimmer of moisture in her eyes.
"Ha, it's not like you're going to the army or something."
Mother bit her lip once, then recomposed herself. Forcing a cheerful smile, she continued.
"Telling you to stay put until I find you would be pointless. You're my child, but also the child of your nosy dad. The Hero's Blood doesn't just vanish. If they've summoned a hero from another world, that world must be in crisis, and you'll go, 'Tch, no choice,' and fight for its people. Just like your dad."
She didn't dislike that about him.
Muttering softly at the end, Mother grinned mischievously, as if saying, 'Right?'
[Indeed, she is the mother.]
Mitra murmured in quiet admiration, and Lucille looked at Cheon-ho anew. Impulsively, she gripped his hand tightly. True to form, her eyes brimmed with emotion.
What an amazing person. Such a grateful person. Such a wonderful person.
"Hmm."
Cheon-ho maintained his poker face diligently, but he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching upward slightly.
"Fight on, son. I always believe in you. Fighting! Fighting! Oh, and?"
Mother, who had been cheering with a clenched fist, suddenly straightened her expression. With the most mischievous look yet, she said,
"Don't end up with too many female companions like your father. Got it?"
"Uh, um, yes."
Answering reflexively, Cheon-ho briefly pictured his companions in his mind.
Mitra, Lucille, the three angel squad.
All women, but there were still many companions left.
Including the combat angels led by Saschiell and the rock dwarves, the male-female ratio was roughly even.
[She seems desperate about something.]
As Mitra clicked her tongue, Mother wrapped up the recording.
"See you soon."
And it froze with a wink.
The sight was so alluring that Lucille blinked and tried to imitate it, but it wasn't easy.
[Hmm, definitely no ordinary woman.]
??? Blood.
Even with her true appearance hidden by black hair and black eyes, she exuded extraordinary presence.
Her true form went without saying.
"Anyway, we gained something."
Brief as it was, they had communicated with Mother.
He now knew the true uses of the magic armor, carrier, and elixir—things he hadn't known before—as well as the nature of the third scroll.
Especially the magic armor and carrier uses. They could boost combat power immediately.
"It's truly amazing."
Lucille said, stroking the carrier anew. Cheon-ho felt the same and nodded before looking into the distance.
"Either way? Time to return to reality. We need to discuss countermeasures."
The immediate issue was the Winter King.
What moves would he make after crushing the 9th floor interception force?
While Cheon-ho examined the carrier, a strategy meeting convened, led by Raguel and Saschiell, who had been gathering intel via the angel network.
"Same as last time. We should operate under the assumption that the Winter King is coming to the 8th floor."
Saschiell's statement had basis. Compiling reports from scattered survivors, it seemed the Winter King had chosen to advance to the 8th floor, not the center.
Whether to repair his undead legion or recover from wounds sustained fighting the God of Phaval, his advance was slow but steady.
[Hmm, grateful for the intel gathering, but... I'm worried about the angels.]
Accessing the angel network required emitting considerable holy power. To the survivors, it was like broadcasting their locations.
"How many survivors are there?"
At Cheon-ho's question, Raguel bit her lip slightly before answering.
"Estimated around 10,000, but they're so scattered that regrouping is difficult."
The God of Healing's interception force had numbered 40,000. So 10,000 survivors wasn't a large number.
"Fighting on the 9th floor seems impossible no matter how I think about it. We have to stop the Winter King on the 8th."
Raguel and Saschiell nodded at Cheon-ho's words. They too thought fighting on the 9th was reckless.
"The Winter King originally resided on the 10th floor, so ascending to the 8th will weaken him slightly. And... like it or not, the time needed for movement buys us time. The God of Healing also promised more reinforcements."
Even for the benevolent gods, moving forces between floors wasn't easy. They had to buy time somehow.
"So, back to rolling the dice?"
Eizel said with an inwardly excited face, but Cheon-ho shook his head.
"We should defend from the Seriphian Fortress itself."
They had benefited from the barriers around the pillar, but actual use revealed clear limitations.
First, there was a limit to the forces it could handle.
They had whittled down enemy numbers and hindered approaches cleverly, but in the end, they had to engage in close combat.
The vanguard led by the three Death Knights numbered around 20,000.
The Winter King's main force was at least 40,000—double that. Even narrowing the entrance to minimize direct clashes, 10,000 couldn't handle it.
Second, barriers and snowballs couldn't stop the Winter King.
Even the Death Knights had sliced through snowballs with sword energy. The far stronger Winter King at the vanguard might annihilate them outright.
Moreover, the barriers.
The Death Knights had forced a passage instead of destroying them, but a powerhouse like the Winter King might opt to shatter them.
Third, they would have to face him directly in the end.
Snowballs had been fun, but ultimately, direct clashes with the superhuman Death Knights, Cheon-ho, and the combat angels decided the outcome.
The biggest difference from Earth battles.
With beings who could fell hundreds alone, failing to neutralize them rendered normal tactics useless.
[In the end, it's about whether we can stop this Winter King or not.]
Mitra let out a groan. And rightly so—the Winter King was strong enough to defeat the God of Phaval.
Though a lesser god, the God of Phaval was a subordinate of the Goddess of War, Evnail herself. Among lesser gods, he was top-tier in combat prowess.
"Considering the Winter King's advance speed, we still have a few days."
Nodding at Raguel's explanation, Cheon-ho glanced at the map. Lucas's map of the 8th floor and Aurael's copied map of the 9th from the angel network.
"Then let's buy time with some work."
Work.
As the angels reflexively lit up with excitement, Cheon-ho continued.
"And... let's make a quick trip to the 9th floor."
"I agree. We'll gain a slight rank increase."
Raguel emphasized, and faint smiles spread across the angels' faces.
Going to the 9th floor would complete the main quest to head downward.
Not just Cheon-ho, but most angels hadn't seen the 9th floor, having come from outside or lower levels. They all anticipated a modest rank boost.
"While we're down there, let's link up with one of the survivor groups that sent a rescue signal. Direct reports will be more detailed."
A white marker was on the map. Nearly at the pillar, so they could join quickly.
"Ugh, I'll finally feel the upper-floor climb effect too."
The strain of ascending from lower to upper floors.
Cheon-ho, entering the transcendent realm, and naturally superhuman angels didn't face life-threatening peril like normals, but it was still quite painful.
[At least we don't weaken like the Demon God's minions.]
The Demon God's minions grew weaker ascending, distancing from the depths' demonic energy.
The same applied to independently active evil gods like the Winter King.
Of course, it didn't make things unconditionally favorable for benevolent gods.
Conversely, Demon God's minions gained massive power descending, while benevolent gods and angels faced increasing demonic pressure and constraints lower down.
The rank increase itself was a reward for overcoming such trials.
"Let's summarize once more. For now, I'll go down to the 9th floor with the angels, meet the survivors, then return straight to the 8th."
No rock dwarves. They were skilled at work and had tasks on the 8th.
"Lucas, prepare for work while we're gone. Get ready to fall back to the Seriphian Fortress too."
"Hmm, got it."
He didn't know what work, but it was surely something good.
Lucas was already captivated by Cheon-ho's work, like the angels.
"Alright, time to explain the work."
Expectation and blushes spread across the angels' faces.
* * *
The moment they descended to the 9th floor, pillars of light rose continuously.
Having done much on the way down to the 8th, the strengthening felt better than expected.
"Haa, feels good. A bit more and I might reach 6th Rank Angel."
Lower ranks grew faster by nature.
As Eizel hopped joyfully, Raguel—now conspicuous in black clothes—looked herself over.
"I feel... a bit changed too. My dark mana has grown stronger."
"Da... dark mana?"
"Y-yeah."
When Aurael asked anxiously, Raguel replied anxiously too, raising a finger. Violet mana flames flickered at its tip.
[Isn't she really falling?]
"No way."
Raguel was so kind. Her wings were still white.
While Cheon-ho and Mitra chatted briefly, Lucille closed her eyes in prayer. Thanking safe arrival on the 9th while clarifying the survivors' rescue signal.
Since becoming the God of Healing's apostle, Lucille's angelic abilities had grown rapidly, like shedding a shell.
Moments after praying, she precisely read the survivors' position and situation.
"They're just before combat breaks out."
Around 10 km away.
Not close, but not far for the flight-capable group.
Without a word, the angels spread their wings.