episode_0126

It was a touching meeting(?) between father and child, but it only brought shock and fear to Lian.

“What is that?!”

It felt like discovering a shy alien sitting at a blind date recommended by a friend.

Lian quickly regained composure like a comedian and asked the young spirit to inform about the surrounding situation. In response, the young spirit relayed loudly chatting voices of surviving dark wizards.

The information obtained in this way was shocking.

The main laboratory, once filled with glass capsules, turned into chaos because someone injected unknown blood through the main capsule, turning all test subjects into monsters.

Lian rolled her eyes and recalled the scene where she poured blood into the strange capsule.

“…It’s because of me. Haha.”

Using patented comedy skills, Lian casually brushed off the situation and thought nonchalantly.

“Since I was going to deal with all the test subjects anyway, it worked out well. They seem to disappear on their own over time. Let’s just leave them be.”

After neatly organizing her thoughts, Lian escaped the research facility through an emergency exit.

“Can Gargando destroy this building in one go?”

[Do we just need to collapse the building like last time?]

“If possible, I want to kill all the life forms inside the building.”

According to the young spirit, the only ones left in the building were the cruel dark wizards conducting experiments. It was necessary to eliminate the data that could create combat weapons, and since those involved in making combat weapons had already been dealt with, it seemed cleaner to handle them all.

Living in a world where death is not the end and where death is consumed as light content, Lian could make ruthless decisions without mental shock.

Crackle! Thud!

Thus, the research facility was completely engulfed in a crimson light and compressed to the size of an ant. The aftermath was perfect.

“Now, let’s go find the kids.”

With the help of the dark sword, Lian ran swiftly. Before long, she spotted Noah and his group running in the distance.

“Noah!”

“…! Li…an?”

Was it because she was too comfortable or because she was too anxious?

Lian had partially forgotten what was hanging behind her. As a result, Noah had to witness a giant woman embracing Lian’s shoulders.

Swoosh.

If Noah was frozen in confusion, Iris drew her sword without a word. The magical aura surrounded the sword she had taken from a dead researcher during their escape.

Ignoring any questions, Iris intended to cut down the spirit following Lian.

The face of the kindly smiling spirit contorted like a ghost. Mistaking her offspring for being attacked, the enraged spirit king began to channel the power of darkness at his fingertips.

The atmosphere quickly chilled, and Noah’s group drew their swords, preparing for battle.

“Creak…”

Seeing Jestes extending his arms, Lian shuddered at the unfamiliar sight. She had never seen Jestes fight before, so it felt too strange.

“If we keep going like this, a big fight will break out!”

Feeling urgent as alarm bells rang in her head, Lian raised both hands desperately.

“Wait a minute! Calm down! This person is not an enemy!”

Lily, who was properly equipped with reason unlike the three women aiming for Lian, immediately responded to Lian’s words.

“Iris, Jess! Stop! Unni! Oppa said they’re not enemies!”

Even Noah, usually rational, drew his sword and rushed forward, but Lily raised her voice to stop him. Noah hesitated at regaining his senses with trembling fingertips. However, his gaze remained fixed on the woman clinging to Lian.

When the situation somewhat settled, Lian, sweating coldly, spoke to the King of Spirits.

“Um… Could you please step back for a moment?”

The King of Spirits, devoid of reason, tightened up at the inability to converse and reluctantly stepped back after Lian fervently requested several times, more easily than expected.

Not anticipating such a simple resolution, Lily widened her eyes in surprise as the Spirit Mother kindly smiled and said, “[Thank you for helping me and my children find freedom.]”

In reality, after the laboratory collapsed due to the Dark Magic, the King of Spirits fully regained reason. Thanks to this, although Lian realized he was not her child, the scene where Lian called her “Mom” remained ingrained in her mind, sparking maternal feelings.

Due to this, she did not let go of Lian tightly. Not wanting to make things uncomfortable, she let go at Lian’s polite request.

“Oppa, you clearly said there is no reason.”

“Uh… I’m sure I did…”

Iris narrowed her eyes at the thought of the damned ajumma coveting her precious oppa. Especially when her gaze turned towards the plump areas of the King of Spirits, her gaze became even more piercing.

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 at the laboratory.

Of course, omitting all details about the original story, she recounted that the Black Mage had captured spirits for experiments, and the Spirit Mother had been captured by them and endured terrible events, which miraculously helped Noah, who had been stumbling like a loose screw, regain composure.

As the story concluded, the next task was to find the Nest organization members who had left first.

“If you go straight ahead, you’ll meet them!”

With the help of the spirits, this was easily resolved. With everyone having similar abilities, their running speed was fast.

During the run, Jess eyed the Dark Magic like a cat eyeing a toy. Until now, whenever using Dark Magic, Lian had tried to control the magic as much as possible to minimize discomfort, but now it was openly emanating a strong aura.

Because of this, Jess instinctively kept an eye on the Dark Magic. Emitting an ominous energy, being with her owner, her pupils naturally contracted and dilated repeatedly.

When Lian signaled to the Dark Magic, it withdrew the ominous energy with a flick of its tongue. Although Noah, Lily, and Nero had many things they wanted to say, it wasn’t the right time to ask questions, so they remained silent.

‘I should have broken it back then.’

Iris didn’t forget that Lian had hurt herself with the Dark Magic. She knew well that if that Dark Magic wasn’t there, there would be no way for her oppa to escape dangerous situations, so she left it alone.

Thoughts about Lian and the Dark Magic, the separated companions, the suspicious laboratory.

Amidst various thoughts, each person’s mind was tangled when they encountered the group that had been captured by a Giant Spider and managed to escape.

“Ahh! Master Lian!”

“Our savior!”

The excellent followers of the Lian Church welcomed their companions with sparkling eyes in an eerie manner.

Jess felt proud as if others had recognized his master’s greatness, while Iris maintained a nonchalant expression as if their reactions were expected.

Compared to the blindly devoted two, Lily, Nero, and Noah, who thought more rationally, had clear question marks on their faces.

“Lian, what is this…?”

“Pia unnie..?”

“Brother… he may be the savior, but…”

Unable to decide whether to be grateful for the lack of injured people or flustered by the strange atmosphere, the three couldn’t grasp the situation.

Meanwhile, Lian was surrounded by followers, sweating profusely.

“Something feels off about the situation, doesn’t it?”

[Well, it’s only natural to praise when facing such great power.]

Although it was not the power of the Dark Magic that overwhelmed them but rather the sanctity, they were elated nonetheless. The Dark Magic, having lived longer than Lian, surprisingly added some wise words.

[Fearing and deifying great power is common. It’s just that you have a weak mind and instinctively rely on the strong.]

“Oh, really?”

Upon hearing the Dark Magic’s words, Lian understood the followers’ actions as those of people desperately seeking a place to rely on due to hardship.

“Still, since there is a true god, believe in the real god…”

Recalling the image of the white bird and the playful deity, Lian’s focus blurred.

“Hmm, let’s just leave it at that.”

Though not considering themselves divine, Lian felt they were at least more reliable than such gods.

Unaware of how their hasty judgment might turn out later, Lian did not realize at that moment.

As time passed and the group grew larger, they quickly moved towards the village, reuniting with the other members who were heading back from the cruel research facility unharmed, prompting tears of joy as everyone considered it a “miracle.”

“It’s all thanks to His mercy.”

As the word “miracle” was mentioned, Lian’s followers quietly began to move as if assassins, following Pia’s teachings.

As Lian’s church continued to grow, Lian discussed future plans with others.

“We need to move faster than planned since we destroyed one of the Demon Army’s research facilities.”

This was a fact learned through information Lily obtained before escaping the lab. Although Lian already knew this from the original, they nodded firmly as if hearing it for the first time.

While they sought a way out of the Demon King’s land as quickly as possible, the spirit mother, who had been shrinking her body like a young spirit, regained consciousness and spoke to Lian.

“I think I can help.”