126 – Who is that woman, oppa?
It was a touching meeting(?) between a father and child, but it only brought shock and terror to Lian.
“What is that?!”
It felt like discovering a shy squid-like alien sitting on a blind date recommended by a friend.
Lian quickly regained composure, as if she was from the world of comedy. She immediately asked the young spirit to help and inform her about the situation. The young spirit relayed the conversation of the surviving sorcerers, speaking in loud voices.
The information obtained in that way was shocking.
It was said that the main experiment room, which was filled with glass capsules, had turned into a mess because someone injected unknown blood through the main capsule, turning all the test subjects into monsters.
Lian rolled her eyes, remembering the scene of putting her hand into the strange capsule and pouring in blood.
“…It’s because of me. hahahaha.”
Using her patented comedy resident technique of laughing it off, Lian thought calmly with a nonchalant expression.
“Anyway, I was planning to deal with the test subjects anyway. It’s good that it turned out this way. They’ll disappear on their own over time. Let’s just leave them.”
After neatly organizing her thoughts, Lian left the research facility through the emergency exit.
“Can Gargando destroy this building in one go?”
[Is it enough to just collapse the building like last time?]
“I want to kill all the creatures inside the building if possible.”
According to the young spirit, the only ones remaining in the building were the black magicians conducting cruel experiments. It would be neat to get rid of the materials that could create combat weapons, but it would be even better to take care of those who had their hands on creating combat weapons.
Since death was not the end of life, and having lived in a world where death was consumed like light content, Lian could make cruel judgments without any mental shock.
Crack! Thud!
In that way, the research facility was swallowed whole by a crimson light and compressed to the size of an ant. It was a perfect cleanup.
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“Now let’s go find the kids.”
With the help of the Dark Sword, Lian ran as if flying. It didn’t take long for her to spot Noah and his group running in the distance.
“Noah!”
“…! L-Lian?”
Was it because she felt too relieved, or because she was too impatient?
Lian had partly forgotten what was hanging behind her. Because of that, Noah had to witness the sight of a huge woman embracing Lian’s shoulders with his own eyes.
Sshh.
If Noah froze in surprise, Iris drew her sword without saying a word. The sword she took from a dead researcher during their escape was infused with magic.
Without any questions or hesitation, Iris intended to cut down the spirit clinging to Lian’s back.
The face of the kindly smiling spirit twisted like a ghost. The spirit king, mistaking it for an attack on its offspring, became furious and began to generate dark power at its fingertips.
The atmosphere quickly turned cold, and Noah’s group drew their swords, preparing for battle.
“Creak…”
Lian flinched as she lowered her body at the sight of Jess extending his arm. She had never seen Jess fight properly, so it felt too unfamiliar.
“If we keep going like this, there will be a big fight!”
Lian hurriedly raised both hands, feeling the alarm bells ringing in her head.
“Just a moment! Calm down! This person is not an enemy!”
Unlike the three women who were aiming at Lian, Lily, who had proper judgment, immediately responded to Lian’s words.
“Iris, Jess! Stop! Sister! Oppa said he’s not an enemy!”
Lily shouted loudly, trying to stop Noah, who was usually rational, from drawing his sword and rushing in. Noah twitched his fingertips and barely regained his senses. However, his gaze didn’t leave the woman who was fixated on Lian.
When the situation settled to some extent, Lian, sweating coldly, spoke to the Spirit King.
“Um… Can you please step back for a moment?”
The Spirit King, who had lost his senses, couldn’t engage in a conversation, so Lian’s insides tightened anxiously. Nevertheless, hoping for a ‘maybe’, she repeatedly asked him to step back, and surprisingly, the Spirit King easily stepped back.
Not expecting it to be resolved so easily, Lian widened her eyes, and the Spirit Mother smiled compassionately and spoke.
[Thank you for finding the freedom of me and my children.]
“…!”
Actually, after the research lab collapsed due to the Dark Sword, the Spirit King completely regained his senses. Thanks to that, Lian realized that he wasn’t her child, but the scene where Lian said to her, “Um, Mom,” was still stuck in her mind, causing maternal love to surge.
For that reason, she didn’t let go of Lian and held her tightly. However, she didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, so she stepped back at Lian’s polite request.
“…Oppa, you clearly said you lost your senses.”
“Uh… I definitely did…”
Iris squinted her eyes at the thought of that damn ajumma coveting her precious oppa. Especially when her gaze was fixed on the Spirit King’s voluptuous areas, her eyes became even sharper.
Unlike Iris, who had a strange fixation, Lily, Nero, and Noah wanted to understand how the situation was unfolding.
Lian briefly explained what had happened in the research lab.
Of course, she left out all the details about the original and simply told the story that the Black Mage had captured the spirits and was conducting experiments on them, and the Spirit Mother had been captured by them and suffered terrible things. When Lian spun the story like a loose screw, Noah, who was stuttering, was fixed.
As the story came to a close, the next step was to find the Nest organization members who had left first.
[If you go straight ahead, you’ll find them!]
This was easily resolved with the help of the spirits. Since they all had similar abilities, their running speed was fast.
Ziggy -…
While running, Jess looked at the Abyssal Sword like a cat looking at a toy. Until now, whenever Jess used the Abyssal Sword, Lian would adjust the magic as much as possible to minimize discomfort. But now, it was emitting a strong and unpleasant aura.
Because of this, Jess instinctively remained cautious of the Abyssal Sword. With such an ominous presence, their pupils naturally contracted and dilated.
When Lian gave a signal to the Abyssal Sword, it retracted its ominous aura while licking its tongue. Noah, Lily, and Nero had faces that showed they had a lot to say, but since it wasn’t the right time to ask, they kept their mouths shut.
“I should have destroyed it back then, after all.”
Iris didn’t forget that Lian had injured herself with the Abyssal Sword. She simply left it alone because she knew that without that sword, her older brother would have no means of escaping dangerous situations.
Thoughts about Lian and the Abyssal Sword, the separated group, and the suspicious research facility swirled in their heads as they met the rest of the group who had been captured by the Giant Spider and managed to escape.
“Ah! Lian-nim!”
“Our savior!”
The faithful followers of Lian’s church welcomed them with eyes sparkling strangely.
Jess felt proud that others had come to know the greatness of their owner, while Iris seemed indifferent as if their reaction was expected.
Riley, Nero, and Noah, who thought more rationally compared to the blindly devoted two, had clear question marks on their faces.
“Lian, what is this…?”
“Pia, unnie…?”
“Brother… He is the savior, but…”
The three of them couldn’t grasp whether they should be grateful for not seeing any injured people or be confused by the strange atmosphere.
In the midst of it all, Lian was surrounded by the believers, sweating profusely.
“Something feels off about the situation.”
[ Heh, it’s only natural to praise such great power when faced with it. ]
Although it was the power of divine energy, not the power of the Demon Sword, that overwhelmed him, Lian couldn’t help but be excited. The Demon Sword, having lived longer than Lian, added some wise words.
[ Revering and glorifying immense power is a common occurrence. With a weak spirit, one instinctively seeks reliance in the strong. ]
“Is that so?”
Upon hearing the words of the Demon Sword, Lian felt that it made sense, understanding the actions of the believers as people desperately seeking a place to rely on due to their hardships.
“But still, since there is a genuine god, they should believe in the real god…”
Lian thought about the image of the pure white bird and the playful god, then lost focus.
“Well, let’s just leave it as it is.”
He didn’t think of himself as a divine being, but at least he felt that he was someone much more reliable than those gods.
Lian didn’t realize how his judgment made without much thought would come back to him later.
As time passed, the growing crowd quickly caught up with the remaining members who were heading towards the village. Everyone shed tears, calling it a “miracle,” that they all returned unharmed from the cruel laboratory.
“It’s all thanks to His mercy.”
As the word “miracle” was mentioned, Lian’s group of believers moved quietly. Following Pia’s teachings, the believers melted into the crowd like assassins.
As Lian’s sect grew in size, he discussed the future with the others, their heads together.
“We need to move faster than the planned schedule because what we destroyed was one of the Demon Army’s research facilities.”
This was a fact Lian already knew from the original work, thanks to the information obtained before Lily escaped from the laboratory. Even though Lian already knew, he nodded with a stern face as if hearing it for the first time.
While they were searching for a way to leave the Demon King’s territory as quickly as possible, the mother of the spirit, who had regained her senses and was shrinking her body to the size of a young spirit, sat on Lian’s shoulder and spoke.
[ It seems I can be of help. ]