Chapter 63
Chapter 63.
'So they do give items after all.'
Suddenly encountering the eyeball angel and receiving a constellation sponsorship proposal.
I thought the special item was just an excuse and this was the main purpose.
Fortunately, it seemed like the item bestowal was also proceeding together.
"Can I choose what I want?"
[Within what I can provide. If there's nothing you particularly want, I can recommend something.]
"If it's a recommendation......"
At Lee Ganghan's question.
Grumble......!
Flames erupted from the topmost wing among the six pairs of wings.
Then.
Ten wing feathers broke off from there.
And floated up in front of Lee Ganghan.
And the item description that appeared above them.
[Flame Angel's Wing Feather]
Grade: S+
One-time use item.
When used, wings of fire bloom from the back, enabling flight.
The generated fire wings possess powerful destructive force against darkness attribute enemies.
The fire wings are maintained from a minimum of 10 minutes to 2 hours maximum, depending on mana stats.
'Is it a one-time use item?'
The fire wings appearing and flight being possible was good.
But still, if it's one-time use, it's a bit disappointing.
'But this would be good when fighting Columbus.'
With wings, I wouldn't have to struggle with Water Walking on the sea.
As he thought this while looking at the wing feather description.
[I can give a total of 10.]
The eyeball angel said it could give up to 10 wing feathers.
That much would be enough not to worry about the battle with Columbus.
But.
'Still, a sword seems better than one-time use items.'
Rather than wings that end after 10 uses.
Equipment that can be used continuously would be better.
Lee Ganghan thought this and asked the angel.
"This item looks good too, but personally I want a sword."
[A sword......?]
"Right now, what I need most is a sword."
[Don't you have a sword?]
Are you talking about the Heavenly Sword Spirit?
"To freely summon that sword, I need a medium, and they said at least an A-grade sword is required."
At those words, the message window didn't appear for a moment.
Blah......!
A crack appeared in part of the giant eye.
And.
Shuuk!
A sword shot out from there.
[What I can give you now is only this old sword.]
Like the angel's message.
The sword that appeared before Lee Ganghan's eyes not only looked obviously old.
But also had cracks here and there in the middle of the blade.
[Flame Angel's Faded Sword]
Grade: A+
A Flame Angel's sword whose blade cracked from not receiving heavenly light and heat.
Its usefulness as a weapon is low.
But because it was an angel's sword, it's rated highly compared to its utility.
'Even though it looks like this on the outside, it's high grade because it's an angel's sword.'
It feels like it needs to be taken to a blacksmith for immediate repair.
If it's A+, I really received it well.
As Lee Ganghan stared at the sword intently.
[Will you still take it?]
A message appeared again from the angel.
Certainly instead of 10 usable wing feathers.
"Can't that sword be repaired?"
[To perfectly repair the sword, heavenly light and heat are needed. However, if it's the Heavenly Sword Spirit you command, even if complete repair is impossible, it should be able to utilize it.]
Does it know well about the Heavenly Sword Spirit too?
The angel saying that if the spirit is attached, 'utilization' is possible.
Hearing that, Lee Ganghan made up his mind.
"Then, I'll choose the sword."
[Understood.]
Sssss.......
The sword approached Lee Ganghan.
As he grasped it.
Flaash......!
Light rippled from there.
['Flame Angel's Faded Sword' has been acquired.]
[The item enters the inventory.]
The sword disappeared from his hand.
'Even if the sword's condition isn't good, it's A+ so it won't complain about it being a shabby sword.'
The Heavenly Sword Spirit that grumbled about barely having A grade.
But this sword is A+ grade and was originally an angel's sword.
It won't show such a rejection reaction.
As Lee Ganghan decided he should utilize the sword from the next battle.
[Take this too.]
Ugh.
Among the ten wing feathers floating in the air.
Two flew toward Lee Ganghan's eyes.
"Oh...... Are you giving me the wing feathers too?"
It decreased from 10 to 2.
But still, giving something is something.
As Lee Ganghan blinked his eyes.
Jiiing.
A message appeared again.
[Yes. You'll definitely need them later.]
Actually, they're useful right now in the 'First Tower'.
Lee Ganghan felt like the angel knew something from its confident tone.
"......Where would the wing feathers be needed?"
So he asked about this once to confirm.
[I'd like to tell you everything if I could...... But I can't give more help to someone who hasn't received constellation sponsorship. Even now, I'm already overextending myself.]
"I see."
Since I haven't received constellation sponsorship.
The limit of help available is up to here.
Lee Ganghan felt disappointed.
But he couldn't just receive sponsorship and have his Heavenly Demon Constitution go to F grade.
"I understand. This much is more than enough. Thank you."
[Yes. Then I'll withdraw now%&(!$.]
The message saying to go now was appearing well.
But the letters started breaking at the end.
'Is this why you said you were overextending?'
To even block the message, the system is merciless.
Lee Ganghan thought this and slightly bowed his head toward the angel.
'When it shone light to test if I followed demons, it felt unpleasant.'
Well, in the end I received several items.
It was worth taking the plane all the way to LA.
The constellation that appeared as 'Angel Kael'.
Looking at how it treated me, it was closer to the favorable side.
'But really, it was too different from the commonly known angels.'
A giant eyeball with wings attached as an angel.
If people actually saw something like that, they'd all just prostrate flat and bow, right?
As Lee Ganghan thought this and glanced back.
In the center of the giant eye.
Something whitish was moving.
"......?"
Wondering what it was, when he looked back carefully.
In the middle of the eye.
A person's head with long white hair hanging down was sticking out.
'......What is that?'
Was there a person inside the eye?
Lee Ganghan looked at that head with surprised eyes.
But the face itself was covered with light, so he couldn't make out what it looked like.
"Haah...... Eh? Hi, hiik!"
Then.
A startled voice came from that light.
Swook!
The head quickly went back into the eye.
[&$]ㅕ&)ㅂ$!]
[%$+23-$ㄴㅊ$!!!]
Then messages appeared consecutively in front of Lee Ganghan's eyes.
'Even if you send messages like that, the letters are broken so none of it shows......'
But roughly the meaning is.
Don't look back and get out quickly, something like that?
'I should go for now.'
There's no need to antagonize the angel unnecessarily.
Lee Ganghan thought this and walked outside.
Exiting the world of light and continuing to walk.
"......Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
In the same kneeling position as before.
He could see his father still praying for a while.
***
"It's finished, Father."
"Oh, yes...... Did you meet that person?"
"Yes. I never imagined there would be an angel under the FIPA headquarters."
As Lee Ganghan shrugged his shoulders.
Lee Junil got up and warned his son with a stiffly hardened face.
"This fact must never be talked about anywhere. This is top secret among top secrets."
"Of course. And even if I talked about it, who would believe it?"
"Isn't this a world where towers keep appearing? There are many who would believe."
"Ah. I understand. I'll keep the secret well. I also received something."
"Is that so......?"
Then Lee Junil showed interest in 'what was received'.
But he didn't actively ask what was received.
He just kept glancing at his son from the side.
To think he'd become a devout believer while they were apart.
He's curious about what was received from the angel but can't bring himself to ask first?
"What I received was a sword and wing feathers."
"......I see."
"More than that, what happened to you, Father? Why are you here?"
At that question, Lee Junil let out a deep sigh.
"I never dreamed I'd come here back then either. What I originally applied for was a clinical trial for a special new drug."
"A clinical trial?"
"Yes. The subjects were...... parents of children who had Tower Syndrome."
Parents of people with Tower Syndrome were the subjects?
Lee Ganghan blinked his eyes.
"That's strange? Not targeting patients who had Tower Syndrome, but conducting experiments on their parents."
"I also checked several times because it was strange at first. But it was an experiment conducted by a trustworthy medical foundation, and above all, the compensation was considerable. For me who needed money at the time, I had no choice but to do it."
Father who quit his job to search for Mother and explored the entire country.
Then used up all his saved money, and his economic situation rapidly worsened.
So he ended up applying for that clinical trial.
"But...... Hoo."
Lee Junil, who stopped mid-sentence and let out a deep sigh.
Slowly continued his words.
"At the place where the test subjects gathered, we witnessed a shocking truth."
"A shocking truth?"
"The fact that among parents with children who had 'Tower Syndrome', one of them was actually a demon follower."
"A demon follower?"
A demon follower.
Is this really a term that should come up in the 21st century?
"I had the same reaction as you at first. I wondered what kind of out-of-the-blue nonsense this was in today's world."
"Well, that would be natural."
"But. When that person appeared before the auditorium where the clinical trial subjects gathered...... the situation changed."
"That person being...... the angel?"
"Yes. When that person emitted light, the faces of nearly half the people peeled off. And from within, along with a terrible stench, black smoke rose."
Black smoke.
At those words, Lee Ganghan recalled the events at Heavenly Demon Valley.
'In the training hall where Mother's voice was heard, black smoke would rise each time I smashed it......'
Certainly the Divine Maiden also said then.
That considerable demonic energy was felt from there.
As Lee Ganghan hardened his expression recalling those events.
Lee Junil spoke with a dark expression.
"Do you remember your mother being youthful-looking?"
"I remember. From elementary school, people around would ask if Mother was your older sister."
"Yes. I heard at work that your daughter had already grown this much."
Not young for her age range.
Mother Yoo Eesu who just looked like she was in her early twenties throughout her life.
As Lee Ganghan recalled such a mother's appearance.
Lee Junil continued his words.
"Among the test subjects gathered in the auditorium, all those whose faces peeled off had such youthful appearances."
"......Is that so?"
"Yes. After extracting the demonic energy, those who returned had faces matching their actual age. Not a few fell into depression because of that."
Even if it was because of demonic energy.
Going from an early twenties face back to your actual age would honestly be depressing enough.
But.
"You said demon followers' faces peeled off, but they all recovered."
"Yes. That person said that though we call them demon followers, they're just victims. He said they were probably infected by demonic power without knowing it themselves. So they could all continue living their lives."
Infected victims.
Then maybe Mother is like that too?
Lee Ganghan had that thought.
"However...... our family's case was different."
"Different?"
Lee Junil immediately denied such expectations.
"Your mother isn't a demon follower...... but a demon itself."