Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Collection (3)
There is a master and disciple.
The disciple was a very small child.
That little one suffered from pain every day.
It was a life with a limited lifespan.
'Such a small child......'
However, the master made countless efforts for the disciple.
She would strike her own head to scatter the divine power accumulated in the disciple's body.
On sleepless nights, she would share his pain and pray for peaceful slumber.
'All my care was worthwhile.'
Riferoze watched the blade falling toward her.
An overwhelmingly large great sword.
And the figure of the disciple wielding it came into view at a glance.
Whoosh!
A golden blade fell above Riferoze's head.
'You've grown well.'
She smiled faintly, and at that moment the blade tip touched her head.
CRASH!!!
With a tremendous roar, violent shockwaves erupted around the chasm.
Riferoze's white hair fluttered.
"Erik, you're quite skilled."
By common sense.
A great sword tens of meters in size should have crushed a human flat.
However, the sword stopped in mid-air.
A giant sword touching Riferoze's white hair—the scene was frozen.
"W-what is......?"
"Hmm."
Everyone was at a loss for words at the sight.
Crunch!
The sword still tried to crush Riferoze.
However, her physical body maintained a firm stance as if refusing any intrusion whatsoever.
She didn't move her hands or feet, nor did she even raise divine power.
A technique made possible because her physical body had reached the semi-divine state.
"Is this all there is?"
With her head pressed against the giant great sword, Riferoze turned her head.
Her eyes met Erik's.
"Kuhehe. You're still the same."
Erik laughed helplessly and continued speaking to her.
"The first technique is still ongoing."
Kuuung!!!
Golden pillars shot up from the positions of Jang Du-sik, Janson, and Ruelle, who stood very far away.
"Ho, so you have the power to enhance your subordinates by infusing them with divine power."
Riferoze expressed admiration at the sight.
'With just this power being impressive, you could also perform such a technique?'
She pretended it was nothing, but inwardly Riferoze was marveling.
She recalled her own fifteen-year-old days.
'I surpassed that wall back then too, but I didn't reach Erik's level.'
Indeed, he is my disciple.
A disciple approaching the point of surpassing the master.
What moment could be more moving for a master than this?
She felt a sense of pride.
'His height and appearance......'
And his outward appearance as well.
She had been very worried that he would grow up with a small physique like herself.
'He grew exactly as I would have liked.'
She never imagined that a small child would grow into such a fine man.
"Hahahaha!!!"
Laughter burst forth involuntarily.
That hearty laughter echoed throughout the entire demon realm.
In contrast to the master Riferoze laughing contentedly, the disciple Erik's face was completely distorted.
"Janson, Jang Du-sik. What are you two doing?"
The first technique Erik had decided on was to use [Judgment] followed by attacks from his strengthened subordinates.
However, Jang Du-sik and Janson showed no signs of moving at all.
"......Sir. Are you insane? You're telling me to fight Sister Rife?"
"Boss, please reconsider!"
Janson and Jang Du-sik trembled with their whole bodies.
Though divine power is said to be almighty, it seems it cannot erase the fear carved into the soul.
It was somewhat predictable.
'Still, they're ignoring my orders?'
He was displeased, but......
"If I strengthen them but they still won't move as I wish, can I really count that as one technique?"
"......I see."
Riferoze's eyes narrowed.
'I mustn't let the master become bored.'
Erik had to do his best before her interest faded.
Thus, he immediately drew out the next technique.
'There's no choice.'
Erik, floating high in the sky with the power of six wings.
Whoosh!
At bullet-like speed, Erik shot toward Riferoze.
Like a falling meteor, golden light traced across the empty space.
And at the same time, Erik brought down the Sword of Creation in a straight line.
CLANG!!!
Space fractured along the blade surface, and brilliant golden light poured from within.
"Hah!"
White hair fluttered.
Riferoze drew her sword.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!!!
Sword met sword.
A massive Erik wielding the Sword of Creation performing [Creation].
A small Riferoze, with the body of a girl, swinging a crude great sword.
"You've truly......become unbelievably strong."
Riferoze drew her sword.
She had broken the rule of allowing three seconds.
"How did you defend?"
"......Would you have preferred I died?"
"Impossible."
Erik laughed deeply.
"Impudent."
Crunch!
Riferoze applied force to her hand, and Erik's body began to be pushed back little by little.
"Since I lost under the three-second rule, I shall impart teachings as compensation."
"Ugh."
As Erik was pushed back helplessly, he looked at Riferoze with a bewildered expression.
"That's insane."
Clang!
Finally, Erik's sword flew out of his hands.
As a reaction, his body tumbled across the ground.
The surrounding scenery rushed past in an instant.
'The gap is still this great?'
As Erik tried to get up, bewildered.
Whoosh!
Snow-white white hair swept past his eyes.
Right after.
BONK!!!
A chestnut strike came down.
"Ugh!!!"
While flying backward, a vertical chestnut strike was driven in.
Erik was driven straight into the ground.
"Hmm-. A mad master and disciple pair."
At the sight, the Pope swallowed.
Old memories seemed to surface as the Pope's hand twitched.
'What are we even watching right now?'
'I-is the white-haired girl the protagonist?'
'One moment they're going whoosh and the next Erik oppa is stuck in the ground?'
The three possessors were stunned by the bizarre sight they'd never seen before.
"Hey, Takka. We almost died."
"Indeed."
Janson and Jang Du-sik felt relieved that they hadn't followed Erik's orders.
And......
"Eek!"
Ruelle, standing in the distance, came running with quick steps.
***
The situation had settled down.
Riferoze gave a brief summary of what had happened to her.
"So......you're saying that with only the determination to find the Slayer, you suddenly conquered the Labyrinth and cleared all the way to the highest level?"
"That's right."
"And you received divine revelation and wandered the sealed Labyrinth, where you encountered remnants of the Black Mage Group?"
"Yes."
Erik's eyes widened.
No matter how he thought about it, something seemed off.
With her power, she should have been able to capture black mages of at least the 8th tier and still have power to spare.
"Why did you only capture a mere 6th tier Thomas......"
"I already told you."
The situation was simple.
The Black Mage Group's main leader.
The 8th tier one-armed black mage supporting him went into convulsions the moment he saw Riferoze.
'Swordsmanship that severs even souls.'
Riferoze's power characteristic is a sword that cuts all things in the world.
A mad ability that even tore apart Erik's status window.
Her sword could truly cut anything.
'If the soul is severed, recovery is impossible.'
She was like a walking disaster.
'Inflicting wounds that cannot regenerate......'
In a world where even torn bodies can regenerate, where all injuries can be restored to their original state as long as one doesn't die.
An existence that can cause disability in a world without disability—how terrifying is that?
"The moment they saw me, they opened a dimensional gate."
They made enormous sacrifices to accelerate the casting time of the [Gate].
Some of the executives were sacrificed in the process, it seems.
"Then they all ran away through the gate."
Except for some black mages positioned in the rear, they all threw themselves into the gate.
"Still, this guy has considerable rank. He's below the representative, after all."
"Representative?"
"Um, someone called Makia"
"Are you talking about a pale woman with turbid eyes?"
"Oh! How did you know?"
"When I captured that guy named Thomas, the two of them wailed their heads off being torn apart. I remember his name that well......"
Erik laughed deeply.
A heart pulsing in the Pope's hand.
Once that regenerates, a director who could be called the core of the Black Mage Group would appear.
"You've obtained quite a good card. You've worked hard."
"This much isn't even hard work."
The conversation ended.
A moment of silence fell, and Erik opened his mouth.
"Um, Master. Exactly......?"
Yet Riferoze remained unmoved.
"When do you plan to come down?"
Erik looked at Riferoze sitting on his lap.
"Hmm, you've become quite impressive."
Erik was flustered.
"When you were young, didn't you sit on my lap every day?"
"......Wasn't I sick back then?"
Whoosh!
Riferoze raised her arm.
Erik continued somewhat helplessly.
"Master, it's nice to recall old times after so long."
"Is it?"
"Yes, it is."
In the middle of the demon realm.
A chair placed beside the chasm and Erik sitting there.
On his lap sat Riferoze, dangling her feet.
'I never imagined I'd be put in such a situation.'
What kind of humiliation was this?
The paladins surrounding the area glanced at Erik.
Erik narrowed his eyes.
Far away, familiar people had gathered.
'These traitors.'
Erik glared at Jang Du-sik and Janson.
Jang Du-sik and Janson deliberately kept their distance, tidying up the surroundings.
Unlike others, the two didn't even glance in Erik's direction.
Even the three possessors followed along with Jang Du-sik.
'Once the master leaves—.'
He was harboring thoughts of revenge when Riferoze spoke to him.
"So, when does that guy wake up?"
It was about the Slayer Luke, who had fainted the moment [Creation] was used.
"Hmm......I'm not entirely sure."
Erik responded evasively.
By now, the guy was probably facing his own death in an empty divine temple.
Of course, Erik could have gone directly into the temple to confirm, but that was impossible at the moment.
'Master is lenient with me, but there's no helping the religious zeal.'
He didn't know what reaction Riferoze would show.
'She might not draw a sword calling me a heretic. But she might deny the temple itself.'
Wasn't the statue placed in the temple shaped like Ruelle?
Feeling such complicated emotions, Riferoze tilted her head.
"So he won't come?"
Her gaze was directed far away.
Toward the direction of the Empire.
'Ruelle......'
Erik pressed his temples firmly.
What on earth had he done for five years that the master was holding onto it in her heart?
'Why doesn't he run away but instead lingers?'
It was a frustrating situation.
***
"Huh, where is this place?"
Slayer Luke.
He had run away right after the fight between Riferoze and Erik began.
Using all sorts of skills and the Labyrinth's treasures, he recovered his body in an instant, then tried to throw himself into the darkness of the demon realm.
However, the moment golden light traced across the empty space.
He lost consciousness.
'A temple built on clouds?'
When he opened his eyes again, it was a strange space.
As he walked on the clouds, he saw a massive golden temple, and around it, hazy divine power swirled.
"Damn it, how did I end up caught by such a crazy monster. I, I need to climb the Labyrinth......"
32nd floor.
He believed.
If he continued climbing the Labyrinth, one day he would be able to return home.
He would return to a warm life with his wife and daughter.
Shhhhh!
At that moment, the clouds suddenly parted.
Through the clouds, a longed-for landscape appeared.
Something modern resembling Earth.
Within it, a rectangular frame.
'A memorial portrait?'
His own face was embedded in that photo.
His original appearance, seen after a long, long time.
It felt very unfamiliar.
As he became lost in sentiment.
"Dear. It's been a while. Jane, say hello to daddy."
"Dad, hello."
Two longed-for people appeared.
They prayed while looking at Luke's memorial portrait.
'H-how much time has......'
The child had grown a lot.
She looked like an elementary school student by now.
His wife's side was empty.
Several years seemed to have passed, yet she hadn't remarried and was still living alone.
'Ah......'
His heart was torn.
It was painful.
He resented the situation.
Yet his wife and child were welcome.
He was grateful and sorry.
All manner of emotions swirled in Slayer Luke's mind.
As he grieved.
Kuuung!
The world shook and the slayer's vision was flipped.
When he opened his eyes......
"Are these the things he had?"
"This thing called '2nd Tier Enhancement Ticket' is quite substantial."
The snow-white woman who had captured him and a very large golden man were chatting while piling up all sorts of items.
"Master, I realized something after crossing blades with you this time."
"What's that?"
"The Holy Relic, the Sword of Creation is too small."
Slayer Luke blinked his eyes.
Coming to his senses, he found himself lying on his back.
A sinister aura emanated from his back as if he were lying on the demon realm's earthen floor.
'Was it a dream?'
His eyes were moist.
No matter how he thought about it, what happened just before didn't seem like a dream......
"So you're Slayer Luke?"
At the sight of a massive paladin speaking so casually, he thought it might be a dream.
'I must be seeing things from living so hard—.'
As Luke had such a thought, a shadow fell over his head.
A brilliantly shining golden-haired man.
Up close, he looked even bigger.
He said.
"You have quite a lot hidden in your inventory."
In his hand were long tickets.
[2nd Tier Enhancement Tickets].
'Those are my items?'
They were items taken from him by Riferoze.
"Hand over everything in your inventory."
She continued hitting him until nothing more came out.
Luke endured.
He persisted to the end.
'If I deny the inventory, that's the end of it.'
So he took out a total of 8 tickets.
And 12 were hidden in the inventory.
No matter how much she beat him, as long as he stubbornly denied having more, there would be no way for her to find out, right?
Slayer Luke tried to respond evasively.
However, before he could.
"Enhancement tickets, and quite a lot of boxes received as rewards for solo conquests. You're carrying elf elixir in liter units......Hmm, why are you keeping imperial-grade elf elixir."
Erik's words continued pouring out.
It was clear he knew the contents of the [Inventory] inside and out.
"Hmm, do you not know about items? Why do you have set items stored in your inventory?"
At his nonchalant manner, the memorial portrait of himself felt like a distant dream.
"H-how on earth—."
Before Slayer Luke could even finish speaking, the white-haired woman appeared above his head.
"Ho, so you tried to deceive me?"
"Master, let's do the beating during the reformation period later."
Erik hurriedly grabbed Riferoze's hand.
"Hmph! Where are you."
"Isn't the Sword of Creation that changed to be large something you'd be curious about?"
"A great sword form of the Sword of Creation. Yes, let me endure it for now."
Erik gently lowered Riferoze's arm and looked at Luke.
'They say his reputation is fearsome......'
Slayer Luke, known as a cold-blooded murderer, blinked his eyes like a docile lamb.
'Why is he such a coward?'
Due to the red effect, he seemed to have a fierce impression.
His appearance without the skill activated looked very kind.
Wasn't he shaped like a naive young man from some simple village in the Garcian Kingdom's border territory?
'This will be easy.'
Erik smiled much more gently and extended his hand to Luke.
"First, take out all the 2nd Tier Enhancement Tickets."
It looked like he was extorting protection money.
Erik was very pleased with Luke's existence.
'But he brought all these useful things for me.'
The Sword of Creation hadn't even finished [1st Tier Enhancement] yet.
He hadn't felt the need to strengthen it all this time, and he'd postponed it because a small longsword would need up to 2nd Tier Enhancement Tickets to become a great sword.
However, things are different now.
'One turn and it goes straight to 2nd tier.'
Slayer Luke trembled as he extended his hand.
Poof!
[2nd Tier Enhancement Ticket] × 12
Now that he had gathered the item to strengthen the materials.
What he needed now was......
"Du-sik!!!"
Jang Du-sik, who had become a believer and thus even more spiritually potent.