Chapter 103

Eve was flustered.

Having witnessed such power, she had no choice but to admit that the Mother-Body was no ordinary being. However, knowing that her attribute was clearly darkness, it was evident that if such a large number of angels clung to her and self-destructed, even the Mother-Body would have a hard time surviving.

But Eve had no power to protect anyone.

Even as she hesitated, the self-destruction timer was ticking away. If things continued like this, the angels piling up on the Mother-Body would undoubtedly become holy anti-dark bombs, exploding in a spectacular blaze.

“Ugh, I don’t know either!”

Thinking that a wide-range explosion from the Fanatic Spear might shake them off, Eve was about to throw the spear when…

“Those ungrateful pigeons!”

A thunderous roar echoed from somewhere.

Startled, Eve looked around but saw only the wreckage of shattered buildings. Nothing else was visible.

“How dare you!”

The roar came again, and this time, Eve could see who the voice belonged to.

A shining golden necklace.

A pitch-black suit barely visible in the darkness.

An intimidating bald head.

The obsidian tower shield in his arm quietly revealed his identity.

“Dusik… no, Aias?!”

As Aias charged through the wreckage toward her, Eve finally realized what he was about to do.

“You, you’re going to…!”

Kicking up a cloud of dust, Aias sprinted past Eve like the wind, not slowing down as he charged toward the pile of angels pressing down on the Mother-Body.

“Shield—!”

With a powerful swing of his shield, Aias’s shout echoed through the ruins.

“Bash—!”

– BOOM!

What followed was an unbelievable sight.

The angels, who had been preparing to self-destruct by piling onto the Mother-Body, were sent flying by the force of the shield bash, scattering like a house of cards in the wind.

Finally, the Mother-Body’s form was revealed.

“Auditorium! Retrieve the boss!”

“Ah, uh!”

But the battle wasn’t over yet. While the self-destruction had failed and been halted, the angels weren’t dead. Many of the scattered angels were stunned by the shockwave of the shield bash, but some, less affected, were already regaining their senses and preparing to fight.

– Slice…

Something silently flew in and began decapitating the angels.

“I wondered where you’d gone. So you were here, you ungrateful vermin.”

A woman in a black hanbok stood atop a building across the way, her cold gaze fixed on the scene as strands of hair escaped from her tightly tied bun.

Soon, two scythes flew in, severing the heads of several angels, which she caught with ease.

– Howl…

A wolf’s howl echoed under the moonlight, and soon, the white blood of angels began to spurt from all directions.

And amidst it all, Escario’s figure had long since disappeared.

*

“What are we going to do about all this?”

“Good question.”

Sitting on the rooftop of one of the less destroyed buildings, looking around, it was clear that the area was completely devastated.

“Did you, uh, have building insurance?”

“I did.”

But Eve’s expression didn’t look too pleased. Something seemed off, and it was likely that the insurance wouldn’t be much help in this situation.

“I’m the one who destroyed it. Asking for insurance money after I wrecked it myself is kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? That’s insurance fraud.”

Wow.

I felt like I’d just heard something I shouldn’t have.

“So you do have a conscience?”

Eve laughed incredulously at my words.

“Hey, I may not look like it, but I’m a magical girl who protects light and justice! I do business with a conscience… I mean, I do have a conscience.”

“Uh… sure, let’s go with that. So what about that building? The damages must be enormous.”

“Yeah…”

Eve scratched her head vigorously.

Dust flew everywhere, but I let it slide.

After all that fighting, it couldn’t possibly be clean.

Eve’s grimace was a bit pitiful.

But a building like that must be worth at least a billion, right? More?

And she’d have to compensate the shops that were inside too.

I don’t know how much Eve would have to pay, but it must be a lot…

“Eh. I’ll just sell some land I bought in LA.”

Yeah, right.

“I must be out of my mind for worrying about you even for a moment.”

“Why?! I said I have to sell land! Worry about me already!”

“My concern isn’t cheap enough to give to you.”

“Hey, that’s too harsh!”

“Anyway, we didn’t catch Escario, did we?”

“Worry about… uh, no. We didn’t.”

There was no way we could have caught Escario in that chaos.

Besides, Eve couldn’t harm Escario, and Escario couldn’t harm Eve either. It was a stalemate, so once I left, there was nothing Eve could do to Escario.

“Boss, everyone’s gathered.”

“Ah, really? Eve, I’ll head out first.”

“Okay. See you later. Aquamarine, Prilly! Come here!”

Leaving Eve calling for Aquamarine and Prilly, I walked down the building with Dusik.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah, Dusik, I owe you my life. If that had all exploded, I might not have been in one piece. Thanks.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

From what I heard later, Dusik, Sohee, and Kabe didn’t have too much trouble.

But even for a world-class martial artist, facing dozens of elementary school kids rushing at you is tough.

It was like a tidal wave of enemies, and just when it was getting overwhelming, the angels commanding the minions started flying off somewhere. Seeing that, Dusik figured something was up and moved in that direction, just in time to save me from being crushed under a pile of angels.

And Kabe and Sohee took care of the scattered angels.

Once again, the kids saved the day.

Hmm, I thought I was getting stronger, but…

“Mom!”

“Oh, my daughter!”

I scooped up Kabe as she ran over and kissed her cheek.

She smelled of sweat and dust, and I really wanted to wash her…

Ah. We don’t have a house.

“Kabe, are you hurt anywhere?”

“Nope. What about you, Mom?”

“Mom’s fine~?”

“I was so worried you were hurt.”

“You worry about Mom too? My daughter’s all grown up.”

“Of course! I can even put on my pajamas by myself!”

“Wow, really? Okay, go stay with Aunt Sohee for a bit.”

“Okay!”

I set Kabe down, and she scurried over to Sohee, who patted her head.

“Alright, is everyone here?”

“Yes!”

Looking at the minions lined up in four rows, it seemed like none of the children had been lost this time.

“Your benchmark.”

Dusik pointed to the minion at the far right, who raised a hand and shouted.

“Benchmark!”

“Number off to the left.”

“One! Two! Three!… Numbering complete!”

The numbers were all there.

Let’s see…

I noticed Chilho grinning at me.

Good to see you’re okay.

“Alright, everyone did well. It must have been chaotic with the sudden attack, but I’m glad everyone made it back without a single loss. Is anyone hurt?”

“No!”

Their loud response filled me with pride.

You all did well this time too.

I’m so relieved. Truly relieved.

“Hmm… there’s one problem, though.”

“Yes?”

“We don’t have a house anymore.”

They had all seen it on the way here, so no one seemed particularly surprised.

Well, it was to be expected, but the fact that no one was shocked by the news that we were homeless was a bit concerning.

“Boss, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Huh?”

I didn’t understand Dusik’s words for a moment.

We don’t have a house, but I don’t need to worry?

“Kids, the boss can finally use magic now.”

Ah.

So that’s how it works!?

My eyes widened, and my mouth hung open as Dusik chuckled.

“You can use the inventory. There’s enough space for all of them and more.”

*

“So, just like opening a bag…”

Oh.

Following Dusik’s instructions, a large gate opened beside me.

“Dusik, the gate’s open. Can you see it?”

“Hmm, boss. Only you can see the inventory gate.”

Is that so? Well, it would be problematic if anyone could see the entrance to a bag.

“Then, you just need to specify what to put in… here, point at him.”

Dusik pointed at Chilho.

“Chilho, get in.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chilho, with his characteristic grin, slipped into my inventory gate.

I thought it wasn’t visible, but it seems clear enough.

He went in without any hesitation.

“You can specify the target for storage, and they’ll be able to see it. Be careful with living things; they need magic power to be stored. So, you can’t store regular humans.”

“I see…”

I thought I could sweep up the kids around me when a fight breaks out, but apparently not.

Too bad.

*

“Done organizing?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

Even after storing all the minions, there was plenty of space left.

Just how big is my magic tank to allow this?

It’s amazing.

“So, about your lodging…”

“Yeah. I’ve stored all the minions in my inventory. It’s just me, Kabe, Dusik, and Sohee.”

“Really?”

Suddenly, Eve’s face lit up.

“Why are you acting like that? Open your eyes properly, will you?”

“What do you mean by ‘open your eyes properly’… Anyway, four people should be fine, so just come to my place.”

“Your place?”

Come to think of it, Eve’s house is huge, isn’t it?

I remember it having a garden, servants, and all that.

“There are plenty of rooms to spare, so giving a few away isn’t a problem. The minions were the issue, but now that you can use magic, you can use the inventory, so that solves it. I was worrying for nothing.”

“Alright, thanks. I’ll take you up on that.”

“Huh?”

Eve took a step back.

“What are you doing?”

“Well… it’s just weird hearing the Mother-Body say thank you…”

This girl, what kind of nonsense is she spouting now?

*

*

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