'International Hero Organization' A.K.A 'IHO' is the name of the company that is ruled by those special peoples. Some even had abilities which were only average and allowed them to have a bit more physical strength than normal humans but they were still regarded highly and valued.
What's more is by going to the dungeon, these people can become stronger, the only bothersome thing is that leveling is just too hard, only one month and passed yet the highest level is just 28.
Auctions were organized almost every week in any city that had a dungeon and rich people would fight to buy one or two magical items. Many important people, despite not having any powers still had a high status such as officials and filthy rich people.
Before Arthur died, he was a very famous businessman, he was originally from the Philippines but somehow he managed to go to South Korea and build a good life there. Not only was he very rich, he had many successful companies whether it's cosmetic companies, electronic companies. It's no wonder his wife was greedy about his money.
He even had a special brand called 'LobiSoft' and it specialized in selling computers, TVs and such. It was his main company and the one which had the most income. Now that he was declared dead, all his companies, restaurants, everything he owned was currently the properties of his wife Claudia. Being the CEO of all these companies, he had the most shares so even after his death, no one from the other shareholders could take over the CEO seat.
His wife was merciless as she fired or 'dealt' with any person that was opposing her in any way and just like that. She became the known CEO of LobiSoft and the other companies. Claudia didn't marry a second man but that didn't mean she was still single.
Secretly, she dated many men or used some to satisfy her 'desires'. This woman, who Arthur couldn't wait to kill was living peacefully and happily and enjoying her life to its fullest.
As if life couldn't get any better, Claudia was fortunate enough to gain an ability like the special people but her ability was shallow and useless in fighting.
Wicked Mouth(Passive) : +25 Intelligence; In an argument with another party, no matter what you say, you have 25% chance of winning over the other party and 0.5% of making him/her blindly trust you.
The second effect has a cooldown of 10 days if it's activated.
Despite having a shitty ability, Claudia was still invited to IHO and with an enormous amount of money investment and coupled with her high status, she was able to win a good position in this company.
She had many backings, from government officials she seduced to other famous companies. For example, currently, Claudia was sitting in a VIP room at a 5-star hotel in the US.
She sipped from the expensive red wine in her hand as she stared at the break-taking view in front of her. The room was at the top of the sky-high building and the room was luxurious and have anything that a person needs, even a jacuzzi.
Claudia was only wearing a violet robe that covered less than half of her body, she was practically naked. Just a while ago, she was on the bed with a middle-aged man who was the CEO of a powerful company in the US.
"Hahaha, although it's only 0.5%, it's the second time that it's activated in just a month. Maybe the watching gods are with me?"
As she played with the transparent glass of wine in her hand, Claudia gazed at the night sky full of stars and playfully smiled whilst saying
"It's all thanks to you, Arthur, though it's a shame you died too early... there were some things you hid from me that I cannot find... a real shame indeed. *sigh*"
After she finished talking, she walked toward the bed and leaned her naked body on top of the man. Her voluptuous body and two mountains peaks pressed on the man and woke him up from his sleep.
"I'm still not satisfied."
Like that, the two of them continued doing their business...
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It's been two days since Arthur fell asleep yet he didn't wake up. Lucy was not worried about his condition as his body fully recovered, moreover, Saly had finally woken up.
She didn't know what Lissandra did but after Delia slapped her a few time, the miserable woman confessed and told her the way to get rid of the sleeping magic she used on little Saly.
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On the course of these two days, apart from staying with Arthur, Lucy happily chatted with Saly and even played with her. What's more surprising is that the little girl liked Delia a lot and would often ask her to perform some things with her Holy Magic.
Delia could ignore the little girl but since she's Arthur's daughter, she couldn't refuse, moreover, she didn't have any reason to refuse. At least taking care of a little girl is better than being stuck at the pearl. She sensed that the tremendous and fast increase in strength which usually occurred every day had slowed down but it was still existent.
At this pace, she guessed that she would break-through in about three to four months and if she's inside the pearl, two months or less would be more than enough.
"When will father wake up?"
It has been some time since Saly started calling Arthur 'father' and Lucy 'mom', since they already considered her like their own daughter, they were more pleased to hear her call them that.
While combing Saly's brown hair which had grown a bit since the first time they met, Lucy showed a soft smile and said while looking at the sleeping Arthur next to her.
"It won't be long, don't worry."
Saly nodded her head silently but after a couple of seconds, she hugged Lucy and said in a low voice.
"I, I'm sorry, I caused you a lot of troubles... *sniff* '
Very soon, Lucy's clothes were wet from Saly's clothes but she didn't mind, she hugged the little girl back while repeatedly telling her that it's not her fault as it really wasn't.
Lissandra was in another part of the cave as it was carved by Delia, she made many rooms and a cell for Lissandra.
Miya stayed in one of the rooms, despite the fact that she was free from her shackles, she couldn't leave yet as Lucy didn't let her, since Lucy didn't let her go then Delia did not either and put a strong seal outside of her room to imprison her.
Lucy heard from Delia that Zodiak forcefully made her(Delia) Arthur's servant and she had to protect him with her life otherwise she would die, even disobeying him is not an option. As for Lucy, Zodiak only said that she had to try and obey her and she could still refuse but the Holy Goddess didn't dare as she felt that Lucy is more cold and ruthless than Arthur and angering her would be a disaster.
Lucy did not bother with Lissandra for the time being but she didn't ignore her either, after making sure she cut both of her arms and sealed her legs with her ice.
The sight was gory and Lissandra's shrieking was too loud but Delia blocked the sound so Saly couldn't hear, even she wouldn't be able to do that to someone so when she saw Lucy doing that with an expressionless face, she really felt a bit of fear despite knowing she's stronger.
Lissandra sat there silently, she was first arrogant and tried threatening Lucy with her clan but it was futile so she switched from threatening to try to make a deal. After countless tries, she apologized for what she did but it was still useless as Lucy turned a deaf ear to her. Apologizing would not work not now and not ever, especially after what they had to go through to capture Saly.
If Arthur didn't bring her back then maybe this pest wouldn't have given them their daughter's location and would have to bargain her life out of this place.
Apologizing turned into begging when her arms were cut off and legs were frozen yet it still didn't work. Delia made sure she shattered Lissandra's Dantian, making her a mortal and destroying her Meridians.
...
Late that night, Arthur finally woke up from his long sleep. His headache a bit and he felt a bit dizzy but after a couple of seconds, he managed to see his wife's figure beside him.
"Emmm, L, Lucy?"
His voice was not too loud but it instantly woke up the sleeping Lucy, she didn't respond to him and jumped in his arms. Nothing made her happier than seeing her own daughter alive and well and her husband waking up from that long sleep. Thoughts like 'What if he never wakes up' or 'What if it's not him' surged her many times but each time she would shrug them off and hope for the best.
"Mnnnn"
Saly moved her small body as she leaned on Lucy's leg and used her thigh as a pillow but when Lucy hugged Arthur, that soft pillow disappeared so the little girl couldn't help but sit up and rub her sleepy eyes while looking at the two in front of her.
It did take her a few seconds to realize what's happening when she saw Arthur smiling at her, she exclaimed.
"Father!"
A lovely smile blossomed on her face as she jumped between Lucy and Arthur and hugged them both, her head was buried in her father's chest. Even after some time, the girl didn't let go of Arthur and she felt that he would disappear if she did so.
While wrapping his left arm around Lucy and Saly hugging him, Arthur leaned on the pillow positioned vertically behind him and checked his surroundings.
"Where are we? I can't remember what happened after the explosion..."
Just as he said that, Delia entered the room and happened to hear his question but before she could ask anything, a dark spear came flying at her.
It was easily blocked by her but she was still surprised by the sudden aggressiveness or Arthur, she looked at him with confusion before Lucy finally explained the situation.
"It's fine, she's not an enemy, she helped us."
Listening to Lucy, Arthur frowned and still didn't restrain his killing intent as he stared intensely at Delia, who barely had any clothes on her.
"Not an enemy? She's the bitch who almost killed us. Wasn't she sealed by Senior Zodiak?"
Delia was expecting to hear him apologize for him thoughtless attack but was met with a harsh insult.
"You.... what did you just call me? Hmpf! You should listen to your wife and thank me because if not for ME, YOU would have died. hmpf!"
After saying that, Delia left the room without speaking further, she was pretty angry since her kindness was met with insult and ungratefulness, she began even regretting not humiliating him or letting him die and die with him as it's better than being treated like this, after all, she's a goddess and not a mortal.
"I don't know what happened when I left but you suddenly..."
Lucy started to explain what she saw and she didn't miss any detail, she even told him the words the unknown person who used his body said.
Saly already fell asleep while hugging him and Lucy continued explained the events from two days ago.