Clouds churned like waves, mist curling and winding around them.
Normally, Heroic Spiritization put a huge strain on Shane's body and could only be maintained for a limited time. Using that high-consumption battle form just to travel was extravagance taken to the extreme.
But this time, after hours of high-speed flight, Shane didn't feel particularly taxed.
Aside from the lingering, pulsing ache deep in his soul from the backlash, his body actually felt full—almost like he still had energy to spare.
"The duration of Heroic Spiritization… seems to have increased again," Shane assessed silently.
As they drew closer to the northern lands, he began consciously lowering altitude.
That was clearly a dividend from partially deciphering Lancer's true name—his long-stagnant overall stats had been dragged upward along with it.
If nothing else, in terms of mana alone, Shane was confident he'd climbed at least a small tier.
He broke through the heavy cloud layer, and the scenery below sharpened.
Brag.
The northern city Deliora had once ravaged came into view.
After years of recovery, it seemed to have risen from the disaster. Even with streets buried in snow, scattered lights still flickered stubbornly through the storm, and he could faintly make out repaired city walls and thin threads of chimney smoke.
But their destination wasn't this lively human settlement.
According to the plan from back then, to avoid discovery, Ur should have moved the massive ice block sealing Deliora farther north—into the uninhabited zone.
"Can you sense where your mother is?" Shane asked as he landed on a vast white plain.
The wind howled, whipping snow into the air until visibility was miserable.
All around was white on white—no sign of Deliora's enormous body, not even a living snow hare.
"This much time has passed… forced relocation, being discovered, moving again to evade something—anything could've happened," Shane muttered, frowning.
"Mom won't leave," Ultear said, unnervingly certain.
She released Shane's hand, stepped forward into the worst of the storm, then glanced back at him. "Move farther away."
Once Shane retreated a bit, she flicked her wrist, and a refined stream of mana poured from her fingertips.
"Ice Make…"
Killing cold instantly frosted her brows.
Then the wind and snow changed.
"…Petal Rain!"
The raging blizzard, the moment it reached her, seemed to be smoothed by some gentle force.
The snow didn't melt—it shifted shape.
One petal. Two. Countless—
The storm became a whirlwind of crystal-clear ice petals, spinning and dancing in the air.
The scene was breathtaking, like a grand shower of blossoms falling through a world of pure white.
"Your Ice Make's gotten even cleaner," Shane murmured, impressed.
"If Mom feels this mana, she should come out," Ultear explained softly, lowering her hand.
"Makes sense," Shane nodded.
They were both Ice-Make mages—same "shape," same mana wavelength. In a dead, silent wasteland of nothing but ice and snow, Ur should be able to sense her daughter easily.
And sure enough—
Before long, a tremor traveled through the ground.
"BOOM!"
Snow exploded in the distance.
A massive ice pillar shot skyward, then cracked open; chunks of ice burst out, and in the heart of the extreme cold, an ice fountain formed—steamlike white mist billowing from it.
"That was fast," Shane breathed. "And her mana feels lively… She didn't just survive—she's doing fine."
While Shane was still marveling at that mother–daughter resonance, Ultear was already moving, silent and impatient, striding toward the fountain.
Shane hurried after her. Watching her tense profile, he hesitated—then asked anyway:
"Now that you'll be able to see your mother from here on… what are you going to do about Hades?"
It was something he'd wanted to ask since they left the vision—he'd just never found the right moment.
Ultear's steps paused.
"Still thinking," she answered, without turning back.
"…" Shane took the hint and shut up.
If she wasn't outright saying "I'm leaving Hades," then she already had a direction in mind.
Neither of them wanted to linger on it.
Ultear was weighing it—whether she should keep clinging to Hades' dark guild now that she had her mother and Shane, whether that "key" plan was worth the price.
And Shane suspected if she chose to keep infiltrating, it was because she couldn't let go of her sins—she wanted to stop the "key" from being activated from the inside.
She'd said the process of making that key was bloody and cruel.
If that was her considered decision, then no matter how worried he was, it wasn't something he should talk her out of.
They fell into a brief silence, crunching through the snow until they reached the ice fountain.
Behind the spray of ice shards, a natural cave entrance was visible, blanketed in snow.
"Ur's inside?" Shane didn't see anyone at the mouth and started to step in.
"Wait."
A hand barred his path.
Ultear stopped him, her delicate face blank, her tone stiff.
"Huh?" Shane turned back, confused.
"I'm going in first."
She didn't explain. She just pointed toward a distant snowbank. "You. Go farther away. Turn around."
"Hah?" Shane stared at her.
He tried to ask another question, but Ultear instantly put on a "no negotiation—ask again and I bite" expression.
Her moods were all over the place, but he was currently counting on her to keep their secrets, so Shane swallowed his questions and shrugged.
"Fine, fine. Whatever you say."
He turned and obediently walked off.
Only after Shane was far enough did Ultear finally exhale and slip into the cave.
Shane kicked at the snow, bored, studying the ice fountain beside him.
"Tch…" Last time, they'd come and gone in a rush—he hadn't noticed details.
Now that he was actually looking, he realized Ur's magic craftsmanship was genuinely terrifying.
Mana refinement, shaping precision—everything was ridiculous.
"That's at least S-rank," he judged privately.
Just from this environment modification alone, Ur was clearly stronger than Laxus at the edge of S-rank.
Maybe even a notch above Shane himself—if he didn't use a Noble Phantasm.
"Though with Lancer now… that's a different story."
He clenched a fist, feeling the Dragon Reactor Core pumping out boundless mana.
"With Lancelot's insane stats and air superiority, my odds against Ur… conservatively, it's at least nine-to-one."
While he was busy doing pointless power-scaling in his head, movement came from the cave behind him.
"Why won't you let Shane come in too? Aren't you two really close?"
A voice similar to Ultear's, but with the relaxed, blunt tone of an adult woman, carried over.
"I even prepared something good to show you both!"
Ur's voice.
Footsteps drew near.
Shane reflexively turned—
"—PFF!"
He nearly choked on his own spit.
Ur stepped out of the cave, standing boldly in the snow.
And she was… basically not wearing anything.
Huge swathes of pale skin—so white it was blinding in the wind—were fully exposed.
Only her chest and hips were "covered," and even that was laughably half-hearted: a few grayish rabbit pelts tied on like an afterthought.
Behind her, Ultear's face had gone pitch-black. If looks could kill, those rabbit pelts would've turned to ash on the spot.
"…" Shane stiffly looked at Ultear, frantically asking with his eyes:
What the hell is this?!
Ultear shut her eyes in despair, like she didn't want to live in this reality anymore.
But Ur, the person causing all this, didn't register the awkwardness at all.
She wriggled irritably, tugged at the dangerously slipping rabbit pelt on her chest, and complained:
"Why'd you make me come out dressed like this? It's uncomfortable."
"The rabbit skin still reeks of blood—so gross… and it's damp and sticky against my skin."
As she spoke, she freely displayed her smooth, flat stomach and long legs—tight lines that looked nothing like a mother's body should.
"…" Shane got it now.
So if Ultear hadn't gone in to stop her, Ur was planning to greet him in the cave… wearing nothing.
If this were some random stranger, Shane could probably keep a straight face.
But staring at Ultear's mom's naked body right in front of Ultear?
No. His heart wasn't that strong.
"Cough!"
Shane instantly pulled a spare jacket and pants from his Requip space and hurled them over without thinking.
"Uh—Ur-senpai, please wear this!"
"Hm?"
Ur caught the clothes, but didn't put them on right away.
She tilted her head and curiously scanned Shane up and down—who, at this moment, still had long silver hair and ornate blue armor.
"You're… Shane?"
"Why's your hair all white? And why's it so long?" She blinked. "Did puberty hit, so you dyed it to look cool?"
"Mom!!!"
Ultear finally snapped.
"Put your clothes on before you talk!!!"
Her usually calm voice actually cracked.
Even though Shane had already looked away to be polite, watching her mother stand there with zero shame—and still trying to chat casually with Shane—
Ultear's face was so red it looked like it might drip blood.
"Ultear, you're so mean…" Ur muttered, shrinking a little. "You weren't like this last time we met…"
But apparently she'd already been "educated" inside the cave, because she finally obeyed and started putting on Shane's clothes.
After a lot of rustling—
"Okay, okay, I'm dressed."
Shane had shot up in height recently, so the clothes actually fit Ur surprisingly well… though when she zipped the jacket, the chest area looked a little… tight.
Still, it was clothes. It counted.
"Alright." Only after Ultear inspected her mother did Shane dare turn back.
"Hah…" He immediately dispelled Lancer's form.
Blue armor and silver hair scattered into light; his usual black hair and lazy-eyed face returned.
"That was my combat form. I kept it up for travel and forgot to dismiss it," Shane said casually—though his eyes kept drifting away.
Watching Ur fidget with sleeves like she wanted to roll them up, Shane felt a wave of realization.
He finally understood where Gray's "take my shirt off at random" problem came from.
This wasn't learned behavior.
This was heritage.
At that moment, Shane felt a deeply impolite but utterly sincere surge of gratitude:
Thank god Ultear was raised in the magic bureau and didn't grow up with her mom full-time…
If she'd inherited this "strip first, ask questions later" lifestyle…
Shane's brain twitched. He couldn't even picture it.
"Oh, right—where's Gray?" Ur asked, still adjusting the collar awkwardly and peering through the storm behind them.
"That kid didn't come? He used to shout he'd definitely come pick me up."
"…Uh."
Shane's expression froze.
Gray? Gray got one-tapped into unconsciousness by your precious daughter and is currently sprawled on a boys' dorm bed with his eyes rolled back.
The words jammed in his throat.
He couldn't possibly say it out loud.
This was not something you described as "mother and daughter bonding."
Just as Shane was stalling, scrambling for a believable excuse—
"He had something come up. He couldn't make it."
Ultear answered smoothly.
Steady voice. Calm face. Not a blink.
"…" Shane stared at her.
That lie was so clean it was almost art.
Was this just dark guild professionalism?
"Is that so…" Ur looked disappointed, but quickly waved it off, back to her bold, breezy self.
"Whatever. I'll just scold that brat properly later for standing me up!"
From Shane's point of view, only a day had passed.
From Ur's point of view, years had gone by.
So "something came up" sounded reasonable.
But Shane still felt guilty on Gray's behalf—because this was ultimately his fault.
Gray had left with Ur alive in his arms, swearing they'd come back for her…
And now he missed the reunion.
That nasty woman… Shane fumed, and while Ur wasn't looking, he shot Ultear a vicious glare to condemn her "crimes."
Ultear was already in a complicated mood after seeing her mother's shamelessness.
And now the guy who'd been "brave" on her lap earlier was looking at her like this?
"Heh."
Ultear narrowed her eyes and let out a small, unreadable hum.
Shane's alarm bells screamed.
He hadn't even reacted yet when Ultear pivoted lightly and glided up beside him with exaggerated elegance.
Then—right in front of Ur—she hooked both arms around Shane's arm, nestling into him like they were inseparable.
"Oh, and Mom…"
Ultear tilted her head, letting a perfectly timed flush bloom across her pale cheeks—sweet, shy, blissfully "in love."
"I still haven't told you… but actually, Shane and I…"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 120 Chapters Ahead of Others!