The city was bustling for a while—from the inside and the outside. A large number of snipers from the Indigenous Monsters Alliance chased after one man. The man escaped so swiftly like a squirrel that they had planned to call for troops when he suddenly disappeared. Worst of all, he had disappeared where ‘that’ was said to be. It was something they must not lose no matter what price they had to pay.
“Hm…” One figure kneeled to study the blood stain on the ground. Then he reached out and twisted one hand in the empty space in front of him and tilted his head. It was then one person ran toward him and quickly made a report.
“…So, were they caught in the trap?” he said in a husky voice while still looking at the empty space.
* * *
“That’s perfect. Bring it over here.”
The basement was wider than they had expected. It seemed the place was made with war in mind, and it was large as an air defense shelter. Furthermore, Ru Amuh’s prediction was right. The eighth recruits were still alive and hiding inside the center of the city. With the Demon Empire and the Indigenous Monsters Alliance warring in the region, the eighth recruits were stuck in between and were unable to move around. Ru Amuh wanted to applaud them for having survived until now in this terrible situation. Like the seventh recruits, they must have endured great hardships and adversity. As a result, the eighth recruits looked thin and dreary like starving refugees.
But besides that, Ru Hiana wasn’t pleased by the situation, specifically the eighth recruits’ attitude toward the detachment. They had taken great risks to come to the eighth recruits’ rescue. There was no reason for them to be investigated or treated as the lesser ones by the eighth recruits like this. It was unbelievable how the eighth recruits acted—like an army with stringent ranks, hierarchy and everything else. A selected few were ruling over the others. Such a power dynamic was unimaginable for the recruits who had come to Liber until now.
The only explanation was that there must be heroes in the ‘legendary’ category. Ru Hiana stared at the four people sitting at a separate table with a disgruntled look on their faces. There was a mysterious hero wearing a thin gown and a face veil. Next to them, there was an eye-catchingly handsome young man good-looking enough to give Ru Amuh a run for his money; he looked like a nobleman, but with an intimidating presence. There was also a slender middle-aged man with rainbow-colored hair. The way he was dressed made him look like a free spirit here on a vacation. And lastly, there was the platinum blonde woman who was aggressively bombarding them with all sorts of questions.
“This—it doesn’t make any sense!” the platinum blonde woman said while slamming her fist on the table and getting up. Although she had grown up like a sheltered princess, her temper was no joke. “We accepted you all at the risk of revealing our locations, and there are only ten of you? The rest returned? Are you kidding me?”
Ru Hiana squinted at her. She didn’t like how they made things seem like her group had done something wrong. Hodamaru fiddled with his hands while standing still. He was writing a message. After staying quiet for a while, Ru Amuh also turned on his device and read Hodamaru’s message.
[I think they are part of the twelve families who light up the Celestial Realm.]
[The one who is complaining right now as well as the other three watching.]
[You saw the barrier, right? It wouldn’t make sense unless they are. I’m sure they got a bit of backup by making a separate tunnel. The only ones who can do that are members of the twelve families.]
Ru Amuh nodded. He had been thinking the same thing.
“Hey, you there, what are you doing?” After her one-sided yelling match, the platinum blonde woman whirled around and demanded.
“Ah, I was sending a message,” Hodamaru replied calmly.
“I’m sure we can still contact the others. We have to tell them that we found the eighth recruits, don’t you think?”
“…Don’t you think?” the platinum blonde woman said, baffled.
“Hm? Is there a problem?” Hodamaru pretended to be clueless and didn’t address the woman he suspected to be a member of the twelve families formally.
“Ha—seriously, so clueless… Whatever. I shouldn’t even expect anything in the first place.” she snorted and walked up to the whole detachment like a model doing a catwalk.
“What are you going to do now?”
“There used to be 511 of us, but only 326 survive.” The woman lifted her chin and stood akimbo. “It seems that the plan we’ve barely brought into reality is all going into the gutters now.”
Ru Hiana quieted her breathing. She had to hold herself back.
“It would have been better for you to return with the others. Why did you even come here? Were you all so desperate to die?” The platinum blonde woman continued to ask.
It was then a companion of hers quietly got up from their seat. It was the hero with their face covered by a veil. They turned around and left the place as if they had seen enough.
“What? Where are you going?” the woman demanded, but she got no response. The cold-looking, noble young man stood up as well. He turned around and stomped away.
“Why are you going…?”
The noble man had the courtesy to stop and respond in a low voice tinged with anger, “Is there anything else to see here?” With that, he and the veiled hero both went into their respective rooms and shut the door.
“…Seriously!” Unable to overcome her anger, the platinum blonde woman stomped on the floor hard. “Am I the only one who's serious? Am I the only one who’s concerned?”
“Whoah, whoah, calm down. Afu~” the remaining middle-aged man said with a grin. The platinum blonde woman shot him a sharp glare and said, “Don’t call me that.”
“Fufu, Afu you get riled up too easily.” The middle-aged man smirked and got up. “Please understand, Afu. I understand why Rak’s like that, but Eusu…after what happened to Mary, they must have hoped for an army. They must be really disappointed.”
“I know! Mariaju was also my friend. I wanted to save her too!”
“Come on, let’s calm down and think seriously about the matter.”
“What nonsense are you sputtering?”
“The situation isn’t that bad.” The rainbow-haired middle-aged man got up from his seat. Then he asked the detachment with a smiling face, “Hey, do you guys have some food or water? We managed to endure until now somehow, but truthfully, we are in a dangerous situation.”
“Food is…” Ru Amuh licked his lips. He brought a lot of food just in case, but there were more members than he had expected. He thought there would be 100 of them at most, but there turned out to be more than 300. And apparently, there used to be over 500 of recruits in the beginning. Nevertheless, Ru Amuh was about to take out what they had when he found nothing.
“Huh?”
Then a balloon-like object popped out of his pocket.
“…Oh my.” The platinum-haired woman’s eyes sparkled.
“Pyu.” It was a steam bun.
‘Why is teacher’s pet with me…?’ Ru Amuh wondered, and the bun answered by opening its mouth wide. At Chi-Woo’s suggestion, bun had brought extra supplies in case they needed more. Thus, when the detachment entered the city and saw how things were progressing, bun had decided on its own to move from Chi-Woo to Ru Amuh to fulfill its mission.
“Urgh—Eck—” Food supplies and water bottles poured out of the bun’s mouth.
“Oh…oh…” the middle-aged man exclaimed. Ru Amuh also stared at it in a daze. Chi-Woo’s foresight had saved the day once again.
“Look at this, Afu. Isn’t this awesome?” The middle-aged man gathered the pile of food and hugged them close. No matter how noble his upbringing was, it didn’t change the fact that he needed to eat and drink.
“…I told you not to call me that,” the platinum blonde woman said in great annoyance, but her tone sounded a bit softer than before.
“And that’s not all,” the middle-aged man said. “You said you just sent a message, right? That means they got a god. They could have also brought the god with them, and we might be able to use our devices!”
The platinum blonde woman crossed her arms. She seemed to be asking silently, ‘What of it?’
“And the rest of their team had returned. Once they reach the capital, people there will find out about our situation for sure. And if the Choi I know hears about this, he will say something like this for sure,” the middle-aged man suddenly affected a serious once like he was imitating someone, “…So you all came but ended up in this state. Ha, never mind. I guess I will go to your aid. Let’s hope that you can endure until I arrive, or else it would be wasted effort.”
The middle-aged man laughed after imitating Choi Chi-Hyun.
“I hate that even more,” the platinum blonde woman said with a scowl. “Thinking of how arrogant he would act if he comes made my stomach twist!”
“Hm~ I understand.” The middle-aged man nodded. “Since you have been dumped once after trying to hit on him, I’m sure you don’t feel comfortable meeting him.”
“W-what did you say? Got dumped?” Her tone immediately grew sharp.
The middle-aged man continued in a nonchalant tone, “Am I wrong? From what I know, I heard that most of the families tried at least once, and all of you got dumped~”
“It wasn’t me!” the platinum blonde woman furiously shot back. “My sister was the one who proposed and got rejected. It’s not related to me in the slightest, not even a little bit!”
“Uh…is that so?” The middle-aged man scratched his head and knocked on his palm with his fist. “Ah, yeah. Your family wanted both of you to get married off to the Choi family, right? Hm, how did it go again? You, the youngest daughter of your family, and the youngest son in the Choi family who is shrouded in rumors—”
The platinum blonde woman scoffed and said, “I didn’t like the idea either.” She slammed the ground again in annoyance. “So very well protected and hidden from all. Why would I want a guy like that? Did you think I agreed because I wanted to!? I also hated it!” Seemingly recalling a bad memory, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “What nonsense! For real!”
She stomped away like her two companions had done.
Bam! She slammed her door as an added effect.
“Ah, I was finally able to send her off.” The middle-aged man let out a long sigh. Members of the detachment had been standing still in the meantime. It seemed that they had heard some insider knowledge they shouldn’t be privy to. It made sense for the twelve families to arrange marriages since they valued bloodline greatly, but as always, the Choi family from Earth was an exception.
“Sorry, my bad. It was a bit of a mess, wasn't it?” The middle-aged man put his hands together and winked. “ I’m sorry that we’re treating all of you like this when you came all the way here to save us. Everyone is extremely tense because the situation here is far worse than our imagination.”
“It’s all right.”
“Thank you, and please give her the benefit of the doubt. She’s kind on the inside, but she’s a cutie who can only express her worries or concerns through anger.”
Ru Hiana snorted without intending to.
But the middle-aged man continued, “…Well, even then, she’s the kindest among the 12 families, at least among those I know.” With a bitter smile, he reached out one hand, his slippers squeaking on the floor. “Shall we first introduce ourselves?”
Ru Amuh took his hands. “I’m Ru Amuh, part of the seventh recruits.”
A look of recognition flashed through the middle-aged man’s eyes. “Ru Amuh? Are you perhaps the hero that was specially selected by the Celestial Realm?”
“It’s a bit embarrassing to say so myself, but yes.”
“Wow! That’s amazing! I was wondering how you got through and came here! So this was the reason!” He laughed and continued, “Nice to meet you. I’m Ismile Shain Hakmart Nahla. My name is a bit complicated, right? I’d appreciate it if you call me Smiley~”
It was now the detachment’s turn to begin murmuring amongst themselves. The Nahla family was considered inferior only to the Choi and the Ho Lactae family. They were famous for evolving beyond human capabilities through generations of eugenics. Moreover, the name, Ismile, was famous even among the Nahla family. It was the same as the Choi family sending their best player in the field, Chi-Hyun. An even more influential person than they expected had come to Liber. The detachment grew hopeful that they might be able to escape.
After organizing his thoughts, Ru Amuh politely asked, “Would you be able to tell us what has happened so far?”
“Well, that won’t be hard. Shall we sit down first? Everyone come here and sit!” Ismile led everyone to the table and made a fuss. Then he suddenly stopped. “…Ah. Um. Could I have a meal before that, though?” He scratched his rainbow-colored hair and grinned with a tinge of embarrassment. “I’ve been starving for a few days.”
Growl. An embarrassing sound rang out.
* * *
At the same time, Chi-Woo was in a daze looking at the white-haired girl shed tears. Philip’s words stuck in his mind—about how he had picked up something unbelievable.
‘…No way.’ He was utterly confused; he couldn’t get rid of the itching thought in the back of his mind.
“Ah.” The girl moved away from the statue and turned to look up at Chi-Woo. Her teary eyes seemed to be asking Chi-Woo for help. Chi-Woo moved towards the girl and the statue as if he was bewitched. He couldn’t feel anything from what seemed to be the statue of a god. He was reminded of the time he had first met Shahnaz.
There was only one possible conclusion—he needed to bring it back to life. They had to sacrifice a great number of people to restore Shahnaz, but now, he didn’t have to do that. Chi-Woo took out a large bottle full of holy water. He didn’t want to use it, but he shook off his hesitation and lingering attachment. Since he had come this far, he needed to finish this task. Chi-Woo opened the bottle and did not hesitate to pour the holy water on top of the stone statue.
Splash— Chi-Woo poured all of it and bowed as he prayed with all his heart. The girl also looked up at Chi-Woo with sad eyes and hurriedly pressed her forehead to the stone statue’s again. And then, something astounding happened. Chi-Woo wasn’t able to see it because he had his eyes closed, but the water flowing down the stone statue began to flow faintly before going against gravity and getting absorbed into the stone statue.
Chi-Woo didn’t know how much time had passed. After silently repeating, ‘please listen to the girl’s wishes’ inside his mind, he looked up, feeling a strange but familiar sensation. Like his first meeting with La Bella, Chi-Woo realized he was in a strange and mysterious space. The girl was still praying with her hands clasped together.
Then she slipped and suddenly collapsed to the floor, while the statue in front of her slowly rose up. No, she wasn’t a statue anymore, but a human, or a living being moving like a human.
“Argh—” The newly emerged girl tipped her head as high as possible and opened her eyes. Chi-Woo gaped. She looked identical to the short-haired girl lying prone on the floor like she was dead; they looked like twins. However, there was something noticeably different about them. The girl had the same features, but black, short hair and black eyes. Above all, the air around them was completely different. While the white-haired girl was like light coming from a pure white crystal, the black-haired girl was a mixture of all evil matters like a muddled darkness.
“…What?” Then she began talking. “How did you…La Bella?” The black-haired girl turned around and tilted her head. “Why would an apostle of true neutral…” She looked Chi-Woo up and down with her completely black eyes.
“…Ah.” She nodded as if she just realized something. “Oh, so that’s how it was. Yeah. You’re not completely a true neutral apostle. You’re just like us—” She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly blinked when her voice wouldn’t come out.
“What the?” She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before she went on to express her displeasure. “Why can’t I talk? Is it because of you, La Bella?”
Chi-Woo didn’t know exactly why, but she seemed extremely annoyed; the intense energy she radiated made the whole place vibrate. She angrily shouted, “How dare you interfere in my realm!” She let out a murderous aura.
—…It seems a bit dangerous.
As soon as Philip murmured this, black energy shot out from all over the girl’s body. When black stalks that spread out like peacock feathers were about to pierce Chi-Woo’s back—
Bam!
“Ack!” The black haired girl flattened like a frog on the spot. That seemed to be a huge palmprint around her if he wasn’t mistaken.
“You bloody Astraea’s daughter—!” She frantically moved and spat out biting insults.
“What, what?” Chi-Woo looked down at the now sobbing girl in shock. He had no idea what was happening here. However, he knew that it was best to stay quiet during these times. Then the mysterious energy pushing the girl down slowly withdrew.
“…Is she gone? She’s gone.” The black-haired girl cautiously got up, and while looking at the white-haired girl on the floor, she said, “Why did she…have to bring someone like him…of all people…even if…” Then she sighed and continued, “…But he did help.” She looked back and forth between Chi-Woo and the girl. Then she walked up to Chi-Woo and expressed her gratitude, “Thanks, oppa.”