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"And all of this is thanks to you."
The Empress transford into the wind, then gently embraced Lucian as if touching sothing fragile.
The surrounding people couldn't help but sigh with emotion upon seeing this scene. To think that the Empress, who revered strength above all else, would make such a gesture—it was clear that her past convictions had been shifted by Lucian. In just a few short days, the two strongest Familias of the world felt as though they were witnessing history. No... perhaps, they were currently walking on the path of a heroic epic. Only, not as mbers of a hero's Familia, but as the 『Stars』 by the hero's side.
"Your armor is rock hard," Lucian complained aloud.
"Haha, then next ti I'll take off this armor and let you hug ."
Seeing that Lucian didn't ignore her, the Empress was taken aback for a mont before her gaze softened and she let out a hearty laugh. She had sowhat guessed Lucian's thoughts. It was precisely because she showed a 'special' attitude towards him that he wasn't as perfunctory as before.
As for the Empress's change in mindset, it was actually quite simple. Her previous worldview was that the strong ruled supre. To use an internet slang equivalent, it was like 'romance will only slow my blade.' But the armor Lucian forged, along with his support abilities, was equivalent to 'a sugar mommy won't slow my blade; she'll just buy a better sword.'
The Empress played the role of the swordsman, while Lucian played the role of the sugar mommy. To so extent, they perfectly ford a complentary dynamic. Just like Vegeta and Bulma in Dragon Ball. Bulma's family had money and technology, while Vegeta had strength. This ford a mutually beneficial relationship.
Bulma not only provided for Vegeta's daily needs—freeing him from worrying about trivial matters in life—but she also built training equipnt like the gravity chamber for him. The reason the Empress changed her perspective was that Lucian's help was simply too imnse. His forging techniques were entirely unparalleled in this world.
Fundantally speaking, the Empress stood at the absolute pinnacle of combat strength, while Lucian stood at the absolute pinnacle of forging. Both were, in fact, the supre powerhouses of their respective fields.
It was currently afternoon. The Familia alliance was stationed here to recover their strength and rest for the night. Tomorrow, they had a tough battle to fight, so everyone was trying their best to adapt to the environnt of the Glacier Territory. These matters had nothing to do with Lucian. Protected by his Sli Armant, he was unaffected by the harsh environnt and began casually strolling around the 60th floor.
Co to think of it, I wonder if Ais has been brought out by the two Familias yet.
Lucian suddenly rembered sothing. The original female protagonist, Ais Wallenstein, was found in the crevice between the 60th and 61st floors. Ais had been sealed in ice by a special magic for a thousand years, until the two major Familias found her and brought her back.
However, the two Familias didn't have the ability to unseal Ais. Plus, since they were defeated in their challenge against the Black Dragon at the ti, they eventually entrusted Ais to Riveria. This was because the person who originally sealed Ais was none other than the teammate of Ais's father, Albert—a High Elf.
Thinking of this, Lucian's eyes deepened, and he quietly activated his detection function. At the sa ti, he shifted to a bird's-eye map view, clearing away the fog of war and illuminating the entire 60th floor. Soon, he found a hidden tunnel near the stairway passage between the 60th and 61st floors.
"Found it."
The tunnel was hidden behind a thick layer of ice. His interest piqued, Lucian used his Wall Passing magic to phase straight into the passage. The system function directly marked Ais's existence. Although she was sealed in ice, she was still alive.
Inside a massive block of ice, a young blonde girl was curled up, slumbering deeply.
"Teleportation Magic."
Lucian directly teleported her to the Divine Court. He didn't plan to inform the Zeus Familia and Hera Familia about this. For one, Lucian was the one who found Ais. For another, she wasn't a spoil of war. This was completely different from the Tartarus incident.
Lucian didn't head back imdiately. Instead, he continued moving forward until he reached the end of the tunnel.
"Is this... man-made?" Lucian murmured.
What caught his eye was a secret room forged from Orichalcum. A man-made secret room actually appeared between the 60th and 61st floors? Did the Dungeon undergo so sort of change, causing this secret room to be 'sent' deep underground? Lucian could only guess as much.
Ais was the daughter of the rcenary King, Albert Wallenstein. Albert was the hero of the final chapter in the 『Dungeon Oratoria』, and also the strongest hero, known as the Sword Champion.
Back then, the so-called 'rcenaries' were the equivalent of modern adventurers. This ant Albert was effectively the King of Adventurers. Even the current Empress couldn't lay claim to that glorious title. Although the gods hadn't descended to the Lower World at that ti, and Albert didn't receive Falna, his Spirit Blessing still granted him power that would place him at the absolute apex even today.
And the daughter of this strongest hero was exactly the original female protagonist, Ais Wallenstein. Ais's mother was Albert's contracted Spirit, Aria. Therefore, she inherited both Albert's swordsmanship and Aria's wind-attribute power.
And here... this seed to be the battlefield where Albert and his teammates were active right before their final monts?
But Albert's final battle was against the Black Dragon, and the battlefield should have been on the surface. Why was it on this floor? And why did a secret room appear so deep underground? These were entirely different questions. As for the specific details, perhaps only Zeus and Hera knew the truth.
The secret room was essentially a shelter. Although there were valuable items inside, they were of no use to Lucian. Even though he had already used his map's perspective to see the contents of the secret room, these were ultimately the belongings left behind by Ais's parents—relics of a bygone era. Regardless, he might as well move this secret room to the Divine Court first.
With this thought, Lucian opened a Teleportation Network gate. Compared to standard teleportation magic, transferring sothing this massive was much easier through a spatial gate.
A loud boom echoed as the extrely heavy secret room smashed onto the ground of the Divine Court, but it didn't damage the floor at all. It wasn't that the materials of the Divine Court were astonishingly tough, but rather that the realm possessed the trait of being 『Indestructible』.
Besides the secret room, there were so fragnted items scattered around. Among them, Lucian picked up a short sword without a blade. These were likely the relics of Albert and his comrades in arms. With a shift of his mind, Lucian returned to the Divine Court.
"Let's unseal Ais first." Lucian murmured, preparing a large-scale ritual.
A magic caster's power needed to be at least on the level of a First-Class Adventurer to accomplish this. During the forr Heroic Age, the peak combatants were no weaker than modern adventurers. Even though the Heroic Age took place before the gods descended, aning there was no Falna, they still possessed Spirit Blessings.
Although the performance of a Falna far exceeded that of a Spirit Blessing, the upper limit of humanity remained the sa. The gap between top-tier powerhouses wouldn't be too vast. If Lucian wanted to cast a spell capable of surpassing his current level, he had to use a large-scale ritual to draw upon a more massive source of power to achieve his goal.
"Seal Release."
The massive formula ford densely packed magic arrays, drawing upon the power of the water veins created by the Spring of Life, and began to operate. A wave of magical power enveloped Ais, causing the ice around her to slowly thaw. She gently landed on the ground.
"Papa... Mama..."
Under Lucian's slightly surprised gaze, Ais—who had just been freed from the ice after a thousand years—slowly opened her eyes. The tear-filled eyes of the young girl held a fragile vulnerability, making her look as pitiful as a small, wounded animal.
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