episode_0263

“Mother!”

Eugene tilted his head at the strange familiarity, and as expected, his mother Marianne was there.

Also, Charlotte, who had been carrying all sorts of heavy burdens as the de facto leader of Bahad for the past 10 days or so, also turned her head, and upon seeing Marianne’s figure again, Charlotte let out a cry of emotion, not knowing what to do.

“Yes, our Charlotte!”

Step! Step! Step!

Then, Marianne, with her height of 179cm, took confident strides and opened her arms towards her beloved eldest daughter, Charlotte.

It is because she understands and empathizes with Charlotte’s hardships better than anyone else.

“Mother, I was so worried!”

Dash dash dash dash dash!

Charlotte ran towards Marianne.

Duchess Marianne was worried about Charlotte, but the same was true for Charlotte, her eldest daughter.

Charlotte was secretly worried and concerned that her mother might overdo it out of concern for her.

Seeing her mother appear before her unharmed, she wondered if it was a dream or reality.

Thus, Charlotte, who was usually so poised and mature, had become just like a daughter in front of her mother.

“You’re safe! I missed you so much!”

Embrace!

“Hahaha! Of course, Charlotte. Where would this mother go, leaving my beloved children behind?”

After that, Charlotte was embraced in Duchess Marianne’s ample bosom.

It was a different feeling than when she was embraced by Eugene.

It felt as if she had cast aside all her burdens and simply become the daughter of Maman, Marianne.

Therefore, Marianne also relinquished her position as the de facto supreme commander on the field and comforted her eldest daughter.

“And our son…”

Marianne’s gaze, which had been comforting Charlotte, turned forward.

“My mother, it’s me. Eugene Dessel O’Bleyan, Mother!”

Her adopted son, Eugene Schneider, was already approaching her.

“Is this truly my son Eugene, so stalwart and dependable! Oh… Eugene! My son Eugene has returned to my side, having grown into such a splendid figure!”

Marianne looked at Eugene Schneider and exclaimed in a tone close to astonishment.

This is because it was a reunion of mother and son after more than two years.

Judging by the letters, Eugene had the most interactions with Duchess Marianne among the women of the O’Bleyan family, but due to the upheaval on the continent, a direct meeting was the latest to occur.

The sight of her son that Marianne saw again after several years was truly a man among men, a warrior among warriors.

How affectionate and touching it must have been for her, who had wished for her adopted son to grow up healthy and return.

“Go ahead and hug your mother, Eugene!”

“Yes! Embrace this mother, my beloved son!”

Charlotte, with a beaming smile, stood next to them and encouraged Eugene to embrace Marianne, who was so full and benevolent.

She also wanted to see the loving reunion of mother and son.

“Mother…!!!”

Squeeze…!!

“Oh my…! Our son! Our son, Eugene Dessel O’Bleyan!”

Eugene, after about two years,

Completely shook off his previous sickly appearance and hugged his beloved mother, Marianne Dessel O’Bleyan.

Eugene Schneider embraced Duchess Marianne as if he were holding a sacred object,

That is his heart at this very moment.

‘It’s incredibly touching! This joy! This emotion! I am feeling the emotion of that mother that I felt through letters, directly in contact like this!’

It was inevitable, as he was in a state where the memories of his previous life, where he lived as an orphan for 30 years, were added.

The embrace of a mother that he had dreamed of during those 30 years, he had no choice but to feel an unprecedented thrill and emotion as he could feel it fully with his actual body, not just an imagination in his head.

“I missed you, Eugene… This mother has never forgotten you for a moment… I am so happy that you have returned to my side, my beloved son…”

Pat… Pat… Pat…

Marianne lavished such love on Eugene that he could feel the utmost maternal affection.

Eugene Schneider, who had grown so large that he could even take down a Minotaur, was embracing his adoptive mother so dearly.

His body had grown, but his heart was still a child frolicking in Marianne’s arms.

Marianne stroked Eugene Schneider’s back with a warm and gentle touch, whispering affection as if she were caring for that child.

“I will protect you… Mother, and my sisters, I will now be with you and protect you from any threat…”

Eugene vowed.

He had become stronger as he had wished.

So, he is vowing to use that power to protect the people who reached out to him in difficult times and have been with him until now.

Reuniting with Marianne, who was perhaps like the last puzzle piece, completed Eugene’s motivation.

“Get out of the way, you bastards!!!!”

ㅡThwack thwack thwack thwack!! Thwaaaack! Thwack thwack thwack!!

The momentum of Eugene Schneider, with 200 percent motivation, was beyond imagination.

Eugene and his group, having finished with the dimensional rift, headed towards the central square of Bahad, where the monsters were most concentrated.

This was to carry out a joint operation with the Bahad defense forces stationed there.

As soon as the joint operation began, Eugene Schneider became the charge captain and began slaughtering monsters at the forefront.

“ㅡKkuuoooaaaaaaaack!” “ㅡKkieeeeeet!” “ㅡKkeueeeeeet!” “ㅡKkueeeeeeeck!!”

It was like autumn leaves falling.

Although there were no superior-level monsters positioned there, even in the square situation where most were intermediate-level monsters, the scene unfolding before Eugene’s greatsword was truly a slaughter show.

He had already become strong enough to engage in a one-on-one duel with a top-level monster, and now he was even accompanied by his beloved adoptive mother.

Eugene was wielding his greatsword, showing off his inexhaustible stamina as a self-generated dopamine buff was being activated.

“Bishop Charlotte, we will cover the left side.”

“Understood, Duchess Marianne. Please be careful!”

The two women who loved Eugene Schneider so much were also highly motivated and began to lead the scene.

Marianne’s recruits from outside numbered about 40, and together with Charlotte and about 50 nuns, they were divided into two groups to support Eugene so that the majority of monsters would not focus on him.

“The monsters are starting to waver! Let’s push through the middle and create a quick resolution!”

Memphis, the commander of the defense forces, who was looking down at the situation from atop the massive barricade, extended his sword forward.

Simply pushing in might cause the momentum of the simple-minded and aggressive monsters to be terrifying, but the story is different when our encirclement attack is successful.

The monsters in the square, with their backs turned to the front, are reacting to the troops attacking them directly and are beginning to show a disorganized appearance.

Since the defense forces have a reliable number of troops, they intend to push through the rear of the monsters.

ㅡSwish!!!

Screams and blood were rampant.

Also, various weapons gleamed.

The great battle of Bahad,

And then, 30 minutes later, in the center of the square, Bishop Charlotte’s mace of the goddess was raised high into the sky.

“In the glory of the Main God, we have been victorious!”

It was a declaration of victory.

Was it not a battle against monsters tainted by the demonic energy of the Evil God?

From the perspective of the Elysium Empire local army, where the Church of the Goddess of Light is the state religion, they had fought a holy war.

Therefore, Bishop Charlotte declared victory in the Bahad Holy War.

“Uwaaaa!! We won!! We have overthrown the monsters with the grace of the Main God!!!”

“Mother!!! I survived!!!”

“Hooray! Hooray! We survived! We won!!!!”

The soldiers belonging to the Bahad defense force burst into cheers filled with emotion.

It had been 20 days that seemed like a hellish landscape without addition or subtraction.

They had peeled off one layer of that hell with their own hands.

In particular, they had led the massive battle to recapture the most important stronghold to victory, so an extreme sense of exaltation surged.

“Nice to meet you. I am Nazrid, the mercenary captain of the Salvador Gray Bear Mercenary Company.”

After the victory, the Bahad camp immediately entered a maintenance time.

Thus, in the defense force headquarters tent, the newly joined comrades conveyed their official greetings.

They were the reinforcements recruited by Duchess Marianne.

“Nice to meet you, Captain Nazrid. I am Memphis, the commander-in-chief of the Bahad defense force. This is Bishop Charlotte from the Holy See. And next to her is Greatsword Master Eugene Dessel O’Bleyan, who received a special mission from the Imperial Knights.”

In any case, Memphis, who had become the victor, introduced the people of the Bahad camp to Mercenary Captain Nazrid in a dignified manner.

“The Gray Bear Mercenary Company is a mercenary company with a plus title in Salvador, with a scale of one hundred stones.”

“Oh oh! Plus!”

“Yes, it is a very solid mercenary company, Commander-in-Chief Memphis.”

Then, Duchess Marianne, who had recruited them, gave a specific introduction to the Gray Bear Mercenary Company.

The Gray Bear Mercenary Company, like the Red Fox Mercenary Company, is a mercenary company with a scale of one hundred stones, but it also has a plus title.

However, the background is different.

Captain Nazrid and the main members were already key figures in other large-scale mercenary companies.

Then, they did not agree with the large-scale mercenary company and formed a small-scale mercenary company in their hometown.

“There was also a commotion in Salvador, so I wanted to help, but it wasn’t easy. But then, I heard the news that Duchess Marianne was recruiting reinforcements. So, I wanted to help, so I applied.”

Nazrid gave a supplementary explanation to Marianne’s introduction.

Salvador is the place where the mercenary market is most prosperous in the southern region of the Empire.

As it is, the current crisis situation has been linked to money and profit in that area.

As a result, the Gray Bear Mercenary Company, which had rolled in, had no room to interfere in the rice bowl fight even with good intentions.

But that worked as a blessing in disguise for Marianne.

“Thank you so much! I feel empowered! A mercenary company with as many as three Expert levels! I will provide all the support I can from this side!”

Mercenary Captain Nazrid is a Sword Expert, and the vice-captain and assault captain are also Expert-level awakeners.

In addition to that, the Gray Bear Mercenary Company has many user-level members, so Bahad defense force commander Memphis could not help but feel reassured.

“We should see this as a situation with a lot more variables.”

But the worries of the people who had to come up with practical measures, Eugene, Charlotte, and Duchess Marianne, were just beginning.

The three of them gathered separately in Marianne’s office after the defense force headquarters tent meeting and began a full-scale conversation.

And the first to open the door was Eugene Schneider.

“That’s right. I think we should gather a little more data on the dimensional rift and come up with specific countermeasures.”

Charlotte nodded in agreement with Eugene’s words.

They hadn’t given the defense forces and the Gray Bear Mercenary Company a proper explanation about the dimensional rift yet.

Just talking about it without a solution could only make them more afraid.

“I have a plan.”

Then, Duchess Marianne, who had been listening to Eugene and Charlotte’s conversation without a word, conveyed unexpected words in a low voice.