Chapter 133
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: 13th Floor - Lv. 775 Lava Hammer Assault Squad (4)
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Taking care of a spirit isn't all that big a deal in the early stages.
Partly because Sylphid was still so young.
Even if she was a Spirit King, her lofty status didn't change the fact that she was basically a newborn.
You'd visit occasionally, stroke her gently, infuse her with mana so she wouldn't forget you, call her name, and bond with her like that.
Only once her ego starts properly forming do you really need to pay close attention.
But at the same time, a spirit mage must never think of the spirit as something they own.
Spirits are nature itself—they don't belong to spirit mages.
In terms of borrowing power, it's akin to what dark mages do.
And the contracts themselves aren't exclusive either; there can be more than one contractor for a single Spirit King.
There must have been a ton of spirit mages, Exiles and NPCs alike, who tried approaching Sylphid to contract her.
According to Puppy Ears, though, no one ended up reaching the Spirit King afterward.
Maybe that environment made Sylphid...
Pretty dependent on me, I figured.
The Queen of Winds, embodiment of nature itself, was taking a form to please her contractor.
She'd taken a human shape, but it seemed unfamiliar to her—her movements were a bit clumsy.
She wobbled over and rubbed her face against mine.
The Girl would never do something like this... no, she probably would.
But seeing a Spirit King who'd lived through ages acting this way felt different.
The Spirit Kings I'd dealt with before were shrewd beings on par with gods.
True kingly dignity.
And that's exactly why they were so reliable.
Our Sylphid had the basics down pat, but she lacked experience.
No gravitas. Her power felt intensely strong, yet somehow... just plain cute.
I stroked her head like I would the Girl's.
The silver-haired girl beamed happily, accepting the touch.
Yet unlike the original, she maintained a calm, dignified air that was strangely captivating.
"You've come from a very distant past. You feel younger than any father I know."
'Even if you call me old, it's only been a few years.'
"Maybe it's psychological?"
Hmm, something about it felt good. Better than with the Girl, even.
Strip away the childlike whimsy, and this is what you'd get?
Her looks were identical to the current Girl outside—minus the silver hair—but she felt like a completely different person.
As a server's Spirit King, Sylphid knew exactly where to draw the line.
Our bonding chat stretched on quite long in the mental realm of the spirit world.
By the time we returned to reality, less than thirty minutes had passed.
Humans only start noticing other things when they have some leisure.
Of course, the Girl had always paid plenty of attention to Uncle, but this lavish holiday let her thoughts wander even further.
Like plans she'd been too busy to flesh out before.
Uncle's go-to shields were his lingering South Korean citizenship—which he hadn't given up on—and the restrictions of being a minor.
Not that it wasn't true.
But she didn't think that was all there was to it; it was just an excuse.
Her body was shooting up lately, but the Girl knew she was still young.
Especially judging by how others saw her, from their reactions.
She couldn't tell herself, but maybe Uncle felt off-put by her outward childishness?
Once an image takes root, it hardens. Stick around too long, and it might become impossible to change.
Expecting the other side to see you anew if you just sit tight? Big mistake.
Wisdom passed down from her self-proclaimed romance expert sister.
She wasn't sure if Sis really was a romance pro. She was pretty, sure, but the Girl had never seen her with a boyfriend.
Still, the advice rang true enough.
So she put it into action.
There was no one around to give her love advice anyway.
Right there, the Girl paused.
There might be one person.
She just hadn't thought of it.
The Girl offered a prayer to the Goddess. Uncharacteristically reverent.
The Goddess responded, sounding highly suspicious.
"What's this? Praying so politely all of a sudden."
'Great Chaos. Do you have much experience with romance, by any chance?'
"What, looking for some secret trick to win a man's heart?"
'Yes, exactly.'
The Goddess puffed out her chest proudly and declared:
"I became an Exile at thirteen. Noble's daughter, sure, but I was the pampered jewel—no arranged marriages for me."
'Huh? You were nobility?'
"Damn right. Can't you feel the noble grace?"
'Uh... sure.'
The lukewarm response seemed to wound the Goddess, but to avoid greater pain, she decided not to peer too deeply into the Girl's thoughts.
"After becoming an Exile, I scraped by desperately. Romance? My life got skewered on a spear instead. And I drew the short straw there too."
Some important, fleeting tale slipped out. Amid it, the Girl's curiosity piqued.
'What do you mean "short straw"?'
"Dunno if it was genetics or what, but I stayed kid-sized forever. Barely got any stat bonuses either—rough going. Why do you think my weapon's a spear? Anything else, and my arms were too short to reach."
'Your family too...?'
"Pretty sure we all breathed short air. Anyway, no one wanted me. The pervs got rejected on my end."
The Girl got it, somehow. Genetic potential-wise, the Jeong Family tended tall. She'd just been the outlier.
Maybe she'd reclaimed her natural growth now.
'So, big talk, but you're a total moss-back. And kinda relatable...'
"Yep."
'Tragic. And why so proud?'
"Gods are always proud. But if you insist... hmm. I'll divine it from my husband, the fourteen-year-old goblin."
'Nah, that feels wrong.'
"My thoughts exactly."
The Girl let out a deep sigh. Felt like she'd been saddled with useless info she never asked for.
Anyway, maintaining the status quo wasn't good.
If she wanted to be the hero's heroine, she couldn't just sit there with her mouth open.
D-day was nominally her twentieth birthday.
No matter how Labyrinth time twisted, her body aged honestly.
If he still said no then, she'd seize it.
This was the Labyrinth.
Not South Korea to begin with—did those laws even apply?
The Girl's pure heart would claim it.
By force.
The exact moment I emerged from the spirit realm back to reality, the Girl's face struck me as filled with some bizarre resolve.
Even reading that far, I couldn't tell what it specifically was. [Mind Reading] or [Mind Scan] are rare skills.
Instead, I sensed something slightly different in her expression.
Maybe because I'd already seen the future Girl's form, or because Sylphid had shown a novel calm in the Girl's shape.
Was her mind elsewhere? Too strong preconceptions?
Kids grow up fast.
The thought hit me suddenly.
The Girl strode over and grabbed my collar.
Then slammed me against the wall.
Stunned, I just took it as she stared me down intently.
Then...
"Not this, huh?"
And off she went.
What the hell.
Glancing aside, Old Man—who'd watched the whole thing—just chuckled "Heh heh heh."
She'd seemed scheming lately.
And there was this ominous vibe like she was biding her time.
Suddenly, the God of Nature laughed.
"You're sharp as ever."
Unsettling. What was that supposed to mean?
Comms came in from the fleet.
The rundown was simple. The Federation had mobilized its full fleet to pin down the enemy planetary fortress.
The allied forces—linked as a coalition—were moving similarly.
Then the Empire punched through one flank. A brute-force breakthrough with one planetary fortress leading.
The allies, never expecting it, got pierced clean through.
Fleet battles aside, every habitable planet in old Empire territory had Empire garrisons.
They were digging in, leveraging their strength in prolonged ground fights.
The hostages? The planets themselves.
Garrisons usually hunkered in the most valuable spots, and the coalition couldn't just bombard them.
A clever stalemate crafted by the Greenskins' smartest ogre commanders.
Greenskins were populous races, even more so post-space age.
The genius workaholic ogres had diligently built their Empire.
No matter how messy it looked, they didn't call it an empire for show.
Those scholars now aimed to punch a path using the Empire's ground war edge.
Reckless if reckless, wise if wise.
Or really, peak Greenskin thinking.
Old Man nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Yep, that's orcs for ya."
"Ogres, no?"
"Eh, orcs anyway. Emperor's an orc, right?"
Then the regimental commander—this garrison's boss—arrived.
"Will you attend the briefing?"
The question brimmed with excitement, assuming I'd say yes.
"Let's do it."
The party moved out. I'd explain anyway, but they needed to hear it too. Especially the Girl—this was essential knowledge.
Speaking of emperor, it reminded me. The God of War and the current emperor were still deeply tied.
Yet that side stayed awfully quiet.
Tracking Exiles was near impossible, so it made sense, but still felt off.
The Empire hadn't played its final card yet.
Greenskin Empire allied with beastkin.
Behind them? Dragons.
Dragons—true apex Labyrinth beasts—held their majesty across eras, one of the few.
Races that could fly through space barehanded tended that way.
Unlike angels or demons who never left their realms, dragons mingled with others.
That was a huge problem.
A massive military one.
No matter Sharkma's insane damage range, she couldn't take on a whole fleet solo.
A sufficiently ancient dragon could, alone.
History recorded six Imperial dragons.
Even raw power matched a fleet; half were ancients.
And that was simplistic—they were individuals, so mobility and decisions outpaced any fleet.
No different from a hyper-maneuverable space armada.
To counter properly, you'd need planetary fortress-class mega-weapons.
Those very weapons had locked the three-way into stalemate across fronts.
"First time seeing this many fortress-grade weapons even in the space age. Why'd they let it devolve like this instead of advancing more?"
Saying that, I had a rough idea. Three-way standoffs this heated were rare.
Especially split so cleanly by race and ideology.
In the real Labyrinth—not a game—such neat divisions were hard without a referee.
Ideals cross races; the reverse happens plenty.
And strong foes just make you push harder.
No growth in peace.
Beings evolve when conflict hits limits.
Sad, but Labyrinth history flowed that way mostly.
The command center already held most officers.
I respected the military experts—goblins—where possible.
Exiles were ultimately jokers, not proper commanders.
The short meeting ended with Major Spencer cheering. He covered his mouth at the glares from generals and colonels.
Promotion path still open, I hoped?
Direct advance was decided.
No one doubted victory, and our party joined Spencer's battalion.
Charge straight into the enemy heart.
Sun hadn't set yet. Stellar presence weakened vampires.
Not a [Daywalker] yet, this wasn't ideal for me.
And the enemy wouldn't wait for night.
The Empire hadn't retreated willingly.
Less than an hour later, battle loomed.
Reports: Enemy ships—briefly pulled back—moving again. Short-range warp straight to planetary airspace.
Sky still empty of returning frontline fleets, enemy vessels began ripping through space.
Giant metal hulks filled the dimming sky.
Remaining defense ships unleashed hell at predicted warp points.
Empire's jagged scrapheaps fired back on arrival.
Barrage lit the heavens. Light flooded the sky.
Not blinding, but you couldn't look away.
Shields clashing, stray beams scoring distant scars.
If not for the firepower, a beautiful canvas. But no time to admire.
Amid the flashes, drop pods rained down.
Empire's black coffins poured. Death from above.
Mixed in: Federation blue stars.
The legion commander—acting like an aide—reported the sitrep.
"As of now, ground ops shift from delayed mop-up to drop assault. Two legions dropping extra; enemy likely matching scale!"
Finally, the legion commander saluted solemnly.
"Great Warrior holds all command on this planet. We obey absolutely."
Faith in inevitable victory burned in the mustached goblin soldier's eyes.
Clear ambition blazed within.
What trials had forged him to this rank?
Initial fluster aside, you couldn't ignore this.
I returned the salute.
"Before the Great Chaos!"
The legion commander received it with immense pride.
"Glory to you!"