248 CHAPTER 245(Rising Threat)

Please read the author's notes.

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pat.treon:/Keanu_Eugene

CHAPTER START---

"So what do we know?" Yang asks.

He was sitting at the head of The Trifecta's conference table in their meeting room. Comfortably leaning back in his chair, head propped up on his one good hand.

To his immediate right was Thalie, beside her Welf. To his immediate left was Freya, and beside her was Hephaestus.

All quickly showered and dressed, at a glance you could hardly tell that the couples spent all day celebrating. But a closer look at either lady would reveal a certain glow about them.

"What we know is that The Angel, or whatever that thing really is, hijacked my Arcanum," Hephaestus grumbles.

"That's possible?" Freya asks, a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Apparently so," Hephaestus says.

"What's it doing with the Arcanum?" Thalie asks.

"I can feel it, it feels just like my connection to any of my adventurers, but stronger, a lot stronger. That surge of connection we gods get whenever one of our adventures levels up, is constant. This thing is constantly growing by 'refining Excelia' or whatever it told Yang it does."

"So it has a Falna?" Welf asks her.

Hephaestus pauses and thinks about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, it's more like it has growing base stats, Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Endurance... I don't feel any Magic at least. So I think it's just using the Arcanum as a raw boost rather than copying a Falna."

"Hopefully that gives us one less thing to worry about," Thalie says. "What about skills and abilities?"

"I can't sense it developing any."

"can you sense where it is?" Welf asks.

"The same floor you left it on, but it's moving quickly, moving as if it knows exactly where to go."

"It has my memories," Yang says. "That means it may know our tricks, depending on how deep the memories go."

The room falls silent for a moment as they all consider how severely that would limit their options.

"How strong is it now?" Yang asks.

"It's only been awake a short while, maybe an hour, it's already level two," Hephaestus says. "That's even faster than your eighteen-hour record."

"That's a problem," Thalie grumbles. "And how long do you say we have until it's here?"

"At best, three days. It'll likely be too strong for any one of you to handle, you'll have to deal with this together," Hephaestus looks over to Yang, "and at your full strength."

Yang raises his arm to show the missing hand, a few millimeters of metal still melded to his flesh as if it were one, "Welf, how long until I can get a new hand."

"I can't start work on that until tomorrow," Welf says. "Tsubaki is half Dwarf so I need her racial skill to get as much workable material as possible from Alatreon's horns. She's barely gotten one broken into Ingots after fifteen hours."

"Do you really need the hand? can't you just make something like a knife that attaches to his arm?" Freya asks.

"It doesn't work like that," Yang says. "My really really big attacks need me to focus magic from multiple points, and naturally I'm practiced for those to be my hands, it's difficult with just this," he raises his left arm to show her.

"Plus nothing else will work," Welf says. "His prosthetics are very very different. Usually the only thing you have to worry about is the body viewing it as an infection and fighting it, but his uses internal magic instead of Magic Crystals, it's one of a kind and comes with unique drawbacks."

"Drawbacks?" Freya asks. "It always seemed like a perfectly functional hand."

"Normal prosthetics can't channel internal magic and most things can't handle a fraction of his magic," Welf says. "When it attaches his magic reaches out and floods it, like a tsunami hitting a dam, if the dam can't handle it the entire thing shatters and a lot of people die. The material has to be strong enough to deal with that before it can properly bind with him, if he needs a new one after a level up---"

"It'll have to be made of a stronger material than the last," Freya finishes for him.

"Exactly, and Alatreon's horns are the only things I can imagine strong enough to deal with his magic. That's what happens when your magic stat is so high."

Freya sighs, "this is what happens when you're too strong for your own good, why can't anything ever be easy for you?" she asks Yang.

He looks at her and quirks a brow, "the only thing I've ever gotten easy is you."

Freya glares at him, "yes, and now you're stuck with me and paying for it," she sticks her tongue out at him.

"Focus children," Thalie says, then turns to Hephaestus. "About the Arcanum, can it freely use it?"

"Mmm," Hephaestus closes her eyes and focuses. Trying to gain a deeper understanding of The Angel through their connection. "Yes, I don't think it can project it, but physically, most likely yes."

"Fuck," Thalie groans. "That means my spear is our main and likely only weapon against it, even magic won't work."

"Arcanum is only affected by Arcanum, as usual," Freya mutters. "But what if Hephaestus leaves?"

Thalie and Yang give the idea some thought but Welf looks completely upset by it. Before anyone can speak Hephaestus answers, "that's why you're here."

"Me?"

"If the connection is broken by me going to heaven, then The Angel will simply go to the next most relevant god in its memory, and its power wouldn't diminish since every drop of Arcanum is infinite in a certain sense, and the next most relevant god in its mind, in Yang's mind..."

"Is me..." Freya mutters.

"I see," Yang says, giving Hephaestus a thoughtful look as everything begins falling into place. "And if it consumes you and Freya that's one thing because we could play it off, but any other god could cause panic and then they'd all abandon this world and retreat to heaven, then---" he cuts himself off before saying too much.

Before revealing that not only would this world likely be destroyed or reset because of The Angel and the fact that it would no longer serve its purpose as a playpen for the gods.

Hephaestus silently nods to him. And Freya watches the interaction with wide eyes.

"Ahh, I get it now," Freya says, gaze shifting between the two. "You two know, and Hephaestus was the one who told you not to reveal anything," she looks across from her at Thalie and Welf. "Not even to them?"

"Not even to them," Hephaestus confirms.

To their credit, Welf and Thalie don't even bat an eye at this reveal. Understanding that if both Hephaestus and Yang decided to keep something from them, they should trust their judgment.

"Ok, so where does that leave us?" Yang asks.

Welf leans forward, "it'll take time for me to make your hand, and maybe I can make a new weapon or two as well, but I doubt we'll get all three."

"And armor would likely be useless," Thalie said. "Make the hand first and we'll work with whatever else we have."

"The spear will have to be what breaks the shard," Yang says. "Arcanum versus Arcanum after all."

"And if it's early?" Hephaestus asks.

"That's why I'll be going ahead," Thalie says. "I'm heading down to floor eighteen right now to wait, if it's early I'll stall it."

"How do we use the spear without you if something happens? You can't go fight alone," Welf says.

Thalie turns and gives him a bored look, "you aim the pointy end at The Shard and poke it really really hard. The spear is divine with or without me, I can just extend that divinity to my entire body, if anything happens you'll be fine without me."

"No, that's not how we do things," Yang says. "We're together in this, it'll take all of us."

"Yes but waiting is a luxury we can't sit back and enjoy. If it gets to the safe zone and none of us are there it kills everyone and gets to the surface, and the only reason we wouldn't be there is if you two aren't ready...and we all know if it gets past the safe zone we already failed," Thalie says.

"So what, you'll stall!?" Yang asks.

"Exactly, that thing gets past floor 18 and it may as well be on the surface."

"And if it kills you?" Yang narrows his gaze at her, something that would have most people backing down, but not her.

"Then I just die and you finish it!"

"That's not how we do things!"

"This isn't a normal monster!" Thalie abruptly gets up. "I'm going to get my things and head down to the safe zone, you two can join me when you're done," she says before storming out.

"I'll talk to her," Hephaestus immediately rushes after Thalie, leaving Yang, Welf, and Freya sitting in silence.

They wanted to go after her but left it to Hephaestus, knowing that on some level Thalie was right, and they were too close to her for this not to just get worse.

While Yang and Welf stayed behind to plan Hephaestus all but ran through the hallway and into Thalie's apartment.

Walking down the main hallway she ignores everything. The perfectly clean kitchen and living room. All the neatly packed dishes and perfectly stacked books. All tell-tale signs that this was either owned by someone obsessively disciplined, or from an imperial military.

Hephaestus walks through the apartment, the gold and black trimming nothing new to her, she's been here quite and bit with Tsubaki whenever Thalie is in Orario.

And she's quite enjoyed getting acquainted with her new 'granddaughter', simply thinking about that word being used on her almost brought back up her lunch. Yet Tsubaki loves it when Mikoto calls her that, and naive Mikoto simply plays along.

Opening the door to Thalie's room, Hephaestus sees the woman packing a small bag. She steps in to see Hokori, Thalie's wind spear, hovering in the air. The best way to ensure its six-ton weight doesn't break the floor.

On the bed is the Champion Spear, gold and releasing a faint glow. Much like the golden bed sheets and curtains.

Freya wasn't kidding when she designed their apartments with their colours in mind, Hephaestus was just thankful Welf's bedspread was a dark red just like hers.

"You're serious about this?" Hephaestus asks.

Thalie doesn't even turn around, simply continuing packing, "you have a better idea?"

Hephaestus frowns, "no... but you seem a bit more erratic than usual, what's really got you so worried?"

"My friends are going into danger, why wouldn't I be worried?" her tone was much sharper than usual, but Hephaestus ignored it.

"Except you weren't worried about the fight itself, you were worried about what happens after if you failed, so what is it?"

Thalie finishes packing and turns around. Hephaestus immediately recognizes that look in her eyes, the same look she saw in the mirror when they went to face Adrestria.

Hephaestus sighs, "you're worried about Mikoto?"

Thalie nods, "she's part of one of the teams that will be leading The Angel away, that girl, she's too impulsive. And if it gets past us---"

"She may try to attack it out of anger," Hephaestus says.

Thalie nods, gaze dropping to the floor.

Hephaestus silently walks up to her and sits on the bed, patting the spot beside her Thalie joins her.

"You know, they say mothers get daughters just like themselves as some sort of punishment, and this is exactly how I felt when you ran off to challenge Adrestria," Hephaestus chuckles quietly.

Thalie taps her metal mouthpiece, "I thought this was enough karma."

"Ohh that wasn't even close for how worried I was, but I'm not worried this time..."

"You're not?"

"Nope, not even a little. Because you three won't let that monster out of the dungeon, and everything is gonna be fine, then you can come back here and beat Mikoto within an inch of death and call it training...or whatever mother-daughter bonding you two do."

Thalie chuckles, "I usually rent out a bath house for us, or she takes me down to the Trifecta Home and we play with the kids...she plays, I watch."

Hephaestus sighs, "I can't stop you from going ahead of them, can I?"

"No, we need to make sure that thing doesn't leave the dungeon, and I don't think those weaklings already down there can stall long enough," Thalie says.

"Right, and when this is over do you think you can get Mikoto to stop calling me grandma?"

Thalie glances at her and laughs, "no, it's funny and fairly accurate, grandma..."

"Grandma," Hephaestus mutters, the word leaving her like a forbidden whisper. "You know I never told anyone how I used the potion."

"That potion?"

"Mhm."

"You fixed your eye, right?" Thalie turns to look at Hephaestus properly. "What'd you do?"

"I decided that, Welf accepts me as I am right now, so I wanted to create the one things gods are forbidden from making, with him," Hephaestus smiles and holds her belly gently.

Thalie's eyes widen in horror and shock, "you're pregnant!"

"No!" Hephaestus covers Thalie's mouth, although not doing much considering it was metal. "I just gave myself the chance to be. Now be quiet before Freya hears, if she finds out about the other potion she'll actually kill me."

"Right, good point, and we can't lie to gods so telling us was a risk," Thalie says. Hephaestus moves her hands away, realizing they were useless.

"Yeah, but one day I may be a grandma to some redhead crozzo babies, so make sure you're there to see it... and to babysit," Hephaestus gives her a warm smile.

"I'll be there, I promise..."

END CHAPTER---

Mama Thalie and Grandma Hephaestus, so wholesome.