Chapter 48.1: Dungeon (3)
Angels.
Spiritual beings who assist the Goddess.
Her faithful servants and messengers.
When Eri, Neria, and Ophelia saw the Angel for the first time in their life, they were very flabbergasted.
That\'s because Angels have only been mentioned in old stories. One would never imagine that they would see such a being with their own eyes.
Cloud, on the other hand, was sullen.
If it was just about the Angel, at most, he would feel a lil\' bored inside.
But regarding this particular situation, he felt a little unpleasant.
‘I can’t see the rewards.’
In the game, when accessing the reward room, the rewards for clearing the dungeon are listed in a row, and the players can choose one of them.
But now, the rewards were nowhere visible in the room.
All he could see was a beautiful Angel with platinum blonde hair who shrouded her body with a single piece of cloth.
…no..way.
Cloud felt as if a cold dagger flew right into his chest.
‘…No. It won\'t be. It cannot be.’
Otherwise, tonight\'s dinner will be pigeon soup.
Cloud managed to pry open his lips, which had become as heavy as reinforced bars.
"I…"
"Uh..? Uhhh?!! Hero, Cloud?! H, How did you get here..?!”
Before he could even ask anything.
As soon as the Angel saw Cloud, she was greatly flustered, and fluttered restlessly.
“Why is the Hero here? How, why? Moreover, it\'s Hero Cloud, not any other Hero…? In the first place, this is not a dungeon that Hero Cloud can clear! Ahh… what happened..!!”
Mumbling to herself, she looked like she was going through PSTD, panicked enough to rip her off own tuft of hair.
Seeing that, Cloud realized.
Alright, even she isn\'t able to comprehend the situation.
Thanks to her, his mind was placed more at ease.
“Are you alright, Miss Angel?”
"Yes? Oh no, heck..! Agh! Welcome, one who passth the ordeal. Ramiel, the faithful servant of Goddess Iris, welcomes you.”
Cloud\'s voice made Ramiel promptly come back to her senses. She coughed lightly and tried to pretend again, but…
Too late.
She didn\'t just expose herself, she left quite a deep impression, and a not-so-good one at that, at least in Cloud\'s head she was already branded as an air-headed Angel.
“Are you, are you really an Angel?”
Ophelia\'s voice trembled.
It wasn\'t because as a believer of the Goddess, she was so moved by the reality that she had encountered a piece of the Goddess herself.
It was simply because she felt her faith waver facing this oddity of an Angel.
Ramiel smiled benevolently toward Ophelia.
“O\' Saintess Candidate, as you can see, I am the faithful servant of Goddess Iris. These pure white wings are a testament to it.”
Ramiel fluttered a pair of pristine white wings as if showcasing them proudly.
Ophelia\'s eyes twitched as she saw the fluttering white wings.
“Yes, that’s right. Ophelia greets the great Angel, Ramiel.”
Ophelia put her hands together and bowed her head. Ramiel responded with a benevolent smile.
“Isn\'t it already over, Miss Ramiel? It is an eternal honor to meet an Angel, but I came here to clear this dungeon and get the hidden treasure. Why can’t I see the treasure and why is there an Angel present here of all places?”
Cloud spoke up and intervened between the Angel and Ophelia.
Ramiel\'s smile turned slightly awkward, which she tried to hide.
“Ah… there has been a tiny issue, I assure you, it\'s a tiny one. Uh, I\'m having some trouble with the procedure… I can try to communicate with the Goddess, so could you please wait for a while?"
"Hmm?"
Cloud narrowed his eyes.
At the same time, Ramiel felt a strange pressure manifest over her.
A bizarre situation where a mere mortal placed pressure on her, an Angel.
But she didn\'t find it strange.
Because to her, a Hero is a being chosen by the Goddess herself, and is bound to be different from ordinary mortals.
Ramiel hurriedly waved her hand.
“Hey, you can\'t be angry with me. You weren\'t meant to be here! ..but you got here. In other words, it\'s a scenario of unexpected twists and turns… It\'s not something I can solve on my own!”
“…”
Cloud sighed deeply at Ramiel\'s excuse. There was some truth to her words, though. Originally, this was the place where Mars should come, not Cloud.
However.
“Is there any problem here? I cleared the dungeon top to bottom, sacrificing blood and sleep. So I do have the right to be compensated accordingly.”
Cloud didn\'t even care about blood, but if anything came in between him and his lil\' bro, this was going to get bloody personal.
“Exactly, I’m going to ask the Goddess about that!”
Ramiel\'s answer was the same. Cloud made a tsk sound.
“Ask as soon as possible.”
Having said his part, he suddenly took out a whetstone and began to sharpen his blade.
Sleer! Sleer!
The sound of sharpening the blade felt creepy for some reason.
Ramiel\'s eyes fluttered greatly.
“Iris-sama… please hurry…!”
Fortunately, for both him and her, Ramiel\'s anxious expression did not last long.
She gave a bright expression, then nodded her head a few times before returning a benevolent smile to Cloud and the others.
“Hero, Cloud. I deliver to you the divine message of Iris-sama. Although you have escaped your destiny, it\'s also a new destiny. I will recognize you as the one who overcame the ordeal of this dungeon.”
Fluuur-!
Ramiel\'s wings spread wide.
Behind her a dazzling halo manifested. When the halo disappeared, four blobs of light floated behind her back.
Ramiel lifted her finger and one of the four rewards flew forward.
It was something that looked like a blue gem.
“This is the essence left by Ruin Krasio, the knight who overwhelmed the continent a hundred years ago. This essence contains everything Ruin Krasio had, including his skills and knowledge.”
The three women were startled by Ramiel\'s description.
Ruin Krasio.
A legendary knight who fought for days upon days with the Dragon King who lost his child and turned berserk.
The blue, glossly gem in front of them is the essence that holds everything of such a knight…
They couldn\'t believe it!
Ramiel snapped her fingers.
This time, an obsidian sword accompanied by its scabbard came forward.
“The blood-devouring demonic sword, Dainsleif. The more it consumes blood, the more powerful it becomes. The stronger the sword, the more difficult it is to control.”
The three women were surprised once again.
Just as Ruin Krasio is famous for his might, there is no one who won\'t know of his beloved sword, Dainsleif.
After he disappeared, it was a treasure that many treasure hunters pursued, yet couldn\'t find even if they searched throughout the entire continent.
Before they were done being surprised, a bottle encasing a red liquid appeared in front of them.
“The Medicine Of Immortality. If you drink this medicine, you will not grow old and you will not be afflicted with any disease. But, the death is the same if you get fatally wounded."
Medicine Of Immortality.
Not to mention this.
Immortality has been one of the mankind\'s greatest desires since ancient times.
Ramiel snapped her fingers once again.
A large tuft of grass that looked like a leaf came forward.
“This is the big root grass. As the name suggests, it is a medicinal herb that makes the male genitals bigger.”