Chapter 297. Coming Closer, Going Farther (3)

As grand scale as our battle was, its aftermath was just as grand. The Beast King and the Fear King could be quickly summarized as Revival defeating the gates that appeared above Bordeaux, but the same couldn’t be done for the horrific deaths at the heart of a religion with the over 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

The Death King had revealed himself above Vatican City and had killed almost all of its people. Although Revival marched straight to Vatican City after hearing about what happened, we couldn’t prevent large number of casualties from occurring. Vatican City itself didn’t have too many citizens, but it was always booming with tourists and pilgrims.

Thankfully, the Pope had survived just long enough for Revival to come to his aid. Although we didn’t specifically strive to save him and had treated him like any other human, after all was said and done, he requested a one on one meeting to show his grat.i.tude.

But as we needed time to mourn the deaths of our comrades, we put his request aside. The Pope was the least of our priorities.

Other than the members deployed to Vatican City, all other members undertook operations to clear monsters in j.a.pan and China. Consequently, they didn’t have to face the devil doll.

If some of them were forced to fight the devil doll, I didn’t know what would have happened. They might have saved Mother from being kidnapped, but it was just as likely that we would have to hold more funerals.

After defeating the Death King and killing the remaining monsters in Vatican City, the death domain set up by the Death King finally disappeared. Only after this did the dungeon’s functionality come back fully. It was also at this time that Licorice found out about the deaths of the succubi. They had even been cutting off the link among the succubi!

But perhaps this was for the best. Thirty eight succubi had died this time. If they all died at the same time, Licorice, as their commander, might have suffered from a severe mental damage.

In fact, as soon as the link was reestablished, Licorice fainted without being able to say anything. If this had happened in the middle of fighting thousands of undeads, the outcome wouldn’t have been pretty.

“I’m worried about Licorice, but when the dungeon’s functionality is shut down and we get separated, the succubi’s link is the only thing we can rely on to communicate… Is it just the Death King that’s special?”

On our plane ride back to Korea, with the fainted Licorice in my arms, Hwaya muttered after examining Licorice’s face worriedly. I shrugged my shoulders.

“If you think about it, the succubi’s link is based on mana before its being based on their racial trait. It’s just that this is the first time it happened, but it’s possible to hinder their connection with an overwhelming mana. It might happened more often from now.”

“… Huu. In that case, we might have to take the succubi out of the frontline battle. Even if we deploy them, we’ll only be putting their lives at risk.”

What happened this time was unprecedented. I wasn’t talking about the link between succubi being cut. I was talking about an enemy they were incapable of defending against ambus.h.i.+ng them. Not to mention, it was in a situation where all members of Revival had left.

No one knew how many more battles we had to face, and considering they would only get harder, putting the succubi on the frontline would be the same as abusing them.

“You’re right, they already suffered so much. There are other places where they can s.h.i.+ne, so from now… Mm?”

At that moment, Licorice opened her eyes. For some reason, something about her was off. The starry particles were gone from her pink eyes, and instead, there was a concentric circle in each of her pupils.

“Dear Husband, were you worried?”

“Yeah, and I still am.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve experienced a similar loss once before in Enesis.”

Licorice touched her forehead as she replied calmly. The concentric circles in her pupils expanded and shrunk repeatedly, scaring me slightly. She calmly continued.

“Dear Husband, do you remember what I told you about succubi’s death? That they disappear like morning dew?”

“I remember.”

“Sorry, but that was a lie. Succubi are a subspecies of Mares, which also include vampires and incubi. When succubi die, they don’t return to nature. Instead, they give their mana to their kin. It’s the commonly said ‘being together even after death,’ the ultimate link one can share.”

I didn’t think it was a common saying, but I didn’t say anything. Licorice continued.

“In the past, the Mare Alliance knew about this, and they proposed a plan to kill all my subordinates to concentrate their power on me.”

“What…!?”

“Cruel, isn’t it? Even if I get stronger with hundreds of deaths, the pain from it could have killed me.”

“But the fact that other succubi are still here means…”

Licorice nodded her head like it was obvious.

“I, of course, rejected them. But after that incident, the echelon of leaders and I always kept a shaky relations.h.i.+p. What they considered important was different from what I considered important. So what if we could successfully steal the world’s power? It wouldn’t have mattered if I didn’t have anyone to share it with. Rather than winning using such a method, I would have rather died. That was also why I could easily accept the Dungeon Lord’s offer. As a result of me prioritizing the survival of my kin, us succubi were kept at a respectful distance from the rest of the attackers.”

“Then, your eyes…”

“Un.”

Licorice nodded lightly.

“I didn’t want to carry out such a cruel plan, but I also knew concentrating the succubi’s power rather than dividing the succubi’s power into 1/n would net a better result. So the members of my kin agreed to offer their powers to their queen when they died. Even when six succubi died last time… and even now, I received their mana. It was just that it was a little delayed this time because of that lich.”

She gritted her teeth. Her eyes were trembling.

“Too many died. Too many. I didn’t want to get stronger like this…”

Her eyes weren’t the only thing that changed. The appearance of tail and wings changed ever so slightly and were carried a deeper black color. Looking at it, I thought back to time we fought the Lava King. When the six succubi died, Licorice had shown a sudden spike in power. That was likely because she received their mana.

“Sorry, Dear Husband. We can’t send the succubi to battle anymore. Earth’s situation is too dire, and our enemies are too strong. As the succubi’s leader, this is my fault.”

“No, this is my fault. You didn’t do anything wrong, Licorice.”

Licorice shook her head slowly. After thinking about something for a bit, she whispered in a soft voice.

“… I need some time. I’ll have to select a crew.”

“Select? Licorice, the succubi are—”

Licorice put her finger on my lips.

“We have to get stronger… Even if we have to weaken others.”

“You…”

“Sending mana, you don’t have to die to do it.”

Licorice smiled. On her forehead, her lamb-like horns changed direction and pointed outwards. It was as if a wild beast that had focused on defending itself resolved to attack.

“Sorry for telling you this so late, Dear Husband. I didn’t want to take away my family’s power. But I was acting spoiled. Only now realizing it… I’m a failure as a queen.”

“You’re already strong. You helped me a lot until now, and it’s the same for the other succubi. This incident was just…”

“No, it’s not enough. Dear Husband and Hwaya are much stronger than when we first met, but I stayed the same. The other succubi haven’t changed either. Plus… we have less than a year left.”

Licorice’s eyes shone. New starry particles appeared in the middle of the concentric circles in her eyes.

“Half a year is enough. I’ll become strong enough to stand by Dear Husband’s side.”

As I understood her resolve, I didn’t say anything. After a bit, Licorice smacked her lips and corrected herself.

“That’s probably too hard, but I’ll at least become as strong as Hwaya.”

“Why am I being singled out!?”

“Dear Husband already surpa.s.sed the limits of his species! I can’t even imagine how strong he’ll be in half a year!”

Licorice’s affirmation made me happy and a little bit sad. With this complex emotion in mind, I patted the two of them. Even as she grumbled, Hwaya stopped complaining at Licorice, and Licorice finally smiled.

… It was only after we arrived in Korea that we realized we left a golden road in Vatican City.

I wanted to hold a grand funeral for the succubi, but Licorice and the other succubi wanted the same funeral as last time. I, of course, listened to their request. Elementals sang for the succubi and Plene also joined in. Though not extravagant, I still believed it was one of the world’s most beautiful funerals.

After the funeral ended, with much contemplation, I decided to make Mother a dungeon explorer.

The reason was simple. If someone aimed for Mother again, rather than investing many powerful ability users to protect her, it was much safer to just have her in the dungeon.

Although we wouldn’t be able to retrieve explorer appointment rights from her, it was a cheap price to pay to keep her safe. I didn’t think they would deploy such a powerful enemy to kidnap Mother, but since she could be used to threaten me, the Hero, it was only logical.

Increasing the number of explorers was the least of our worries. Rather than having a few more explorers, having Mother safe in the dungeon was much better as we wouldn’t need to worry about her. If our enemies changed their modus operandi, it was only natural that we do the same.

But since Mother’s lack of ability was one of the reason we didn’t make her into an explorer sooner, we took this opportunity to appoint well-vetted Korean S ranker to climb the dungeon with Mother. Since Father taught Mother how to run away and gather mana, I believed she wouldn’t be too big of a burden. Probably.

After entering the dungeon and coming out, Mother laughed happily. It seemed she forgot all about being kidnapped by the devil doll. Indeed, it was better to forget traumatic experiences. I planned to never let her experience scary things again.

… Though, she’d still have to look at monsters’ faces while climbing the dungeon.

“Going in and coming out, it’s so simple. How mysterious. So, when can I visit my son’s house?”

“You have to reach level 21, Mother.”

“Huhu, you know, I’m really good at games. When I young, I even hit the highest job advancement in Mapl***ory. 3rd was it?”

“No, it’s not that easy. If it was, I would have let Mother become an explorer much sooner. Also, I think that game even has 5th job advancements now…”

I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out with a 6th…

Translator’s note:
The game was actually Kingdom of the Winds, but I went with Maplestory since it pretty much fills the same role and more people know about it.